Vegas Knight
by Ren Kayashima
Summary: Spencer Reid has lived the awkward life of a young genius. On the day he puts his mother in the home, he met a young woman and a friendship grew. TEMPORARILY ON HIATUS
1. Prologue

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

0o0o0o0

Prologue:

Spencer Reid was not a normal child. He was the son of a lawyer and a former literature professor. At a young age, he tested at the gifted level and from the point on, he lived an awkward life full of trials and tribulations of a young genius. It was from such events that he grew as a person, and what ultimately led to his successful career with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit.

At eighteen he found himself walking around Ceaser's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. Guilt weighed down on his brilliant mind after he forced his mother into a mental home. He wanted her to be safe, and the home seemed like the only option. She was now under the care of a brilliant doctor, and that was all Reid needed to know. After all, he couldn't trust his mother in the hands of just any medical professional.

With his mind preoccupied with thoughts of his mother, he hardly paid attention to where he was going. His walk was casual, slow, and his feet simply took him through the main lobby of the hotel/casino. There wasn't much that he at eighteen could do in Sin City. He couldn't gamble, he couldn't go into the bars, and he didn't have the money or the enthusiasm to shop in designer clothing shops. Not that he could put off an Armani suit like male fashion models could.

As his mind ventured to possibilities unknown, he didn't see the young woman walking his way. She had long dark brown hair with streaks of sun bleached strands which she had pulled into a ponytail. She wore a pair of black plastic rimmed glasses so that her grey eyes could see without hindrance. She wore a simple purple tank top, light blue jean shorts, and cheap purple flip flops. An olive green messenger bag rested on her shoulder and had a red cross on the flap.

She was looking around nervously, as she walked around. She looked over her shoulder as someone shouted at the concierge for services not rendered. It was in that moment that both Reid and the young woman collided.

It took Reid a moment to register what had just happened. He looked around for the source of his short lived imbalance. He looked down at the ground and found the woman sitting there looking at a broken flip flop. A small contemplative frown formed on her lips and she picked the flip flop up and examined it.

"Cheap piece of crap," she muttered she tried to create a temporary fix and gave up when the sandal remained ruined.

"Are you okay?" Reid asked wondering if he had injured the girl in any way.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Peachy," she answered. "I'm not hurt, but I'm now in need of new sandals. Preferably, ones that don't cost five dollars."

Reid held out a hand so that he could help her up. He estimated her age to be around fifteen. She stood a full head shorter than him which wasn't unusual for him. At six foot one, he was a tall young man.

"I'm sorry I- I wasn't paying attention," he stuttered as the girl dusted the non- existent dirt off her shorts.

She looked up and smiled at him. "No harm no foul. I wasn't exactly the most aware of my surroundings myself," she said looking around once more.

"Are you lost?" Reid asked looking around with her.

"I got separated from my brother. I'm not quite sure how he managed to do that," she answered.

"Maybe I could help you look for him," Reid suggested ready for a minor distraction. There was only so much guilt a person could take. Maybe helping this girl find her brother would distract him, if only for the time it took to find him.

She studied him and raised an eyebrow as she debated his offer. "What's your name?" she asked as she maintained eye contact with him.

"Spencer Reid," he answered with a casual lift of his hand.

"Brooklyn Taylor, but you can just call me Brooke," she stated mimicking his gesture but added a slight flick of the wrist.

"Where did you see your brother last?" Reid asked as Brooke pulled her intact flip flop off. He grimaced slightly at the thought of bare feet on the linoleum that everyone walked on.

Brooke started walking towards a small souvenir shop, causing Reid to jog in order to catch up with her.  
When he was a kid, he only remembered entering the shop once. "I last saw him at the Roman statues," she said after barely dodging a man in a business suit as he rushed off to parts unseen. She twisted on the balls of her feet and glared at the man as he briskly walked off. "People aren't very nice here."

"Welcome to Vegas, land of the self-absorbed and forever greedy," Reid stated nonchalantly with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

Brooke snorted as they entered the store. She carefully moved out of the way as two little boys came running out of the shop on a mini tirade. A tired mother squeezed past the two with an "Excuse me," and chased after them.

"You're a master of the understatement," Brooke said looking around. "Shoes, shoes, where are shoes," she sang quietly.

"So are you here in Vegas on vacation?" Reid asked hoping to figure out just where this girl had come from.

"Sort of," Brooke said as she headed towards the back of the shop where some sandals hung on the wall. "My brother is looking at the college here. My aunt brought us here, so that he could look at it."

Reid looked at her face. She seemed bothered by the idea of her brother going to college in a place like Vegas. "You don't want him to go to school here?"

"It's his choice when it comes to the school he wants to go to. I want him to stay in the Bay Area, but I'm not going to tell him he has too."

"That's where you live?"

"It's where I've always lived," Brooke answered as she picked up a pair of black sandals.

"So are you looking at colleges in the Bay Area?"

Brooke looked at the price and pulled out her wallet from her bag. She glanced at Reid before pointing towards the cash register. He held his arms out in a lead-the-way gesture and followed her.

"I don't need to," she answered as she paid the cashier and subsequently slipped the flip flops on. She looked up at him and noted his confused look. "How old do you think I am Mr. Reid?"

"Fif-fifteen," he stuttered. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at her.

"You're two years off. I'll take it as a compliment," Brooke answered. "I'm seventeen."

"But doesn't that mean you're a senior in high school?"

"Age does not necessarily delegate what grade you're in," Brooke laughed. "I graduated high school five years ago. I just finished my master's degree in psychology and sociology last year."

Reid looked at her as she moved towards the exit. "What college do you go to?" he asked.

"Stanford University," Brooke answered

"Does that mean you've taken classes under Dr. Albert Bandura?" Reid asked.

"You know who Bandura is?" Brooke asked surprised. _A psychology major?_ she thought.

"Everyone who studies psychology knows about Dr. Bandura and his Bobo doll experiment," Reid answered. "He's one of the best psychologists out there."

"You mean the only one that is still alive. The best have pretty much died. There's Piaget, Skinner, Watson, Freud," Brooke listed as she counted on her fingers.

"Watson scared little children using the idea of classical conditioning," Reid stated horror stricken. Watson's study was considered unethical now. Invoking fear in little babies using a simple learning method.

"Poor baby Albert," Brooke shook her head sympathetically. "Maybe, not Watson, but there's Pavlov."

Reid nodded. Pavlov's experiments were crucial to defining classical conditioning. The two of them left the shop and Brooke began looking around once more.

"What does your brother look like?" Reid asked. Seeing as he had no idea who to look for, a general description would be useful.

Brooke turned to him and held her hand up so that it was just above his head. "Your height, brown hair, grey eyes, blue shirt, tan shorts, flips flops," she listed.

_What?_ He thought. She had spoken so quickly he only heard a blur of words.

When Brooke cleared her throat, Reid mentally shook away his thoughts and continued searching. "If you had gotten separated from your brother, where were you supposed to meet him?"

"The Venetian, but I have not a single clue where that is," Brooke replied walking towards the exit. "I don't suppose you do?"

"It's down The Strip," Reid answered as he pointed which way they needed to go. "So what do you want to do as a psychologist?"

"I want to help people, but I won't be able to do that until I finish my doctoral degrees. At least then I'll be an adult. I present my Psychology dissertation in a little less than six months. The problem will be getting the people to take me seriously."

"It happens to me too," Reid nodded. He had his Ph.D. in Mathematics, but it was hard trying to convince some of the greatest minds in Mathematics, that his research and math was correct. At first they looked on in disbelief. A seventeen year old managed to find a solution to a problem that they themselves had been working on for years.

Brooke snorted once more. "Really? You're a child prodigy, working on not one but two doctoral dissertations?" she asked sarcastically.

Reid frowned slightly hurt by her words. "I'm working on two right now, but I have one in Mathematics," he said matching Brookes stride so that he didn't get too far ahead of her.

Brooke stared at him and her eyes widened in shock. "You aren't kidding," she muttered. She looked up hope filled her eyes. "So you're a genius too right?"

"Well-"he began but Brooke place a hand on his shoulder.

"Just say yes please," she pleaded. She had been hoping to find someone who had grown up being the social outcast, the nerd, the geek, the one who messed up the grading curve. "Do you know how hard it is to find someone your own age, who is actually as smart, if not smarter than you?"

Reid focused on her and nodded. "Yes, I do."

Brooke squeezed her eyes shut in slight embarrassment. "Right, of course you do," she playfully smacked herself on the forehead. "Stupid genius."

Brooke let out a small groan as she watched people make their way out of casinos and into the next one on their list. Some came out looking like winners, while others looked like they had just woken up from a very rough night on the town.

"When I found out we were coming to Vegas, I thought 'hey, maybe I can learn to play poker. Not'. There's nothing to do here if you're underage."

"They have shows," Reid said.

"We saw a pretty cool magic show yesterday," Brooke nodded, "I don't know, I'd rather be back in my room reading a good book. Unfortunately, I didn't bring enough. What brings you to Vegas?"

"I live here," Reid answered. "I go to Caltech, but I had to take care of some things."

"Oh a SoCal academic. Do you go to the beaches?"

Reid shook his head in disdain. He hated the beach.

"Too bad, the beach is kind of nice down there," Brooke said while whipping the sweat off of her brow. She turned her gaze up to him. "I really appreciate this."

"I wasn't doing anything. Actually I was just walking around so that I could think."

Brooke eyes grew an extra size. "Oh, no, did I interrupt some really great idea that you were going to test?" she asked. She watched him and slapped a hand over her mouth. "I did, didn't I?"

Reid shook his head with a small smile. "How did you manage to lose your brother?" he asked easily changing the subject.

"I didn't do it on purpose if that's what your insinuating," Brooke stated crossing her arms. "He probably went chasing after some girl."

"He would actually do that?"

"Given the change any teenage male would follow a pretty girl, rather than walk around with their twin sister."

"He's your twin?"

"Triplet, but- well," Brooke stopped walking as she tried to come up with a proper explanation. Reid looked at her as she bit her thumb nail. "You see, I'm a triplet. I have two brothers and they're identical twins, whereas, I'm their fraternal triplet? I'm only here with Blair, so at the moment the triplets have been broken down to twins. I think."

"I get it," Reid said.

"You do?"

He nodded and continued walking. "I still don't see why your brother would abandon you."

"He's a seventeen year old guy," Brooke answered as if it was obvious. Maybe to her it was, but Reid found himself lost in her logic.

"I'm eighteen," he said.

"Yes, but, you are a genius," Brooke explained. "Thus, putting you into the category of a socially awkward introvert."

Reid's face creased in emotional pain. She hit the nail on the head with that statement. He rarely left his apartment back in Pasadena the labs of Caltech. As they approached the Venetian, Reid heard someone shout Brooke's name.

A guy came running up and from his attire, Reid had deduced that this was Brooke's missing brother.

"Hey Brooke, I'm going to go with Brittney to the Stratosphere," he said pointing his thumb behind him to show a blond woman waiting. "I'll catch you at the MGM for dinner. Okay?"

"Who's Brittney?" Brooke asked he face taking on several worried features.

"She's this chick I met. I'll see you later."

"But- I- ah," Brooke tried to speak, but she couldn't find the right words. She let out a helpless sigh and her shoulder sagged. "Now what?" she moaned.

"I can show you around Vegas," Reid suggested. The minute he thought about walking away, thoughts of his mother came back.

"You don't have to do that Dr. Reid," Brooke said. "I'll just find my way back to the hotel and watch some TV or something."

"It's not a big deal," Reid said. "You can call me Spencer."

"Are you sure?"

Reid nodded. Brooke pulled out a deck of cards from her bag. "I don't suppose you know how to play poker do you?"

0o0o0o0

Spencer and Brooke sat on a hotel mattress and each held five cards in their hands while party sized bags of m&m's rested beside them. The two had returned to Brooke's hotel room so that Reid could teach her how to play one version of poker. Brooke let out a groan and dropped her cards on the bed. Reid put his down to reveal a Royal Flush.

"Why do I keep losing?" Brooke questioned picking up his cards. "I'm almost out of m&m's."

"I never lose," Reid replied.

Brooke gathered the cards up. "So why are we still playing?"

"Why are you here with your aunt?" Reid asked.

"Because I live with my aunt," Brooke said avoiding his eyes. She started to pick at her fingernails.

"You don't live with your parents?" Reid may not have been living with his mom for a few years, but he couldn't imagine not growing up with her.

"Nope, just me and my aunt," Brooke slid off the bed and grabbed some of her brother's clothes that were scattered around the room.

"What about your brothers?" She had at least two brothers, but from her statement, they didn't live with her.

"Blair lives with my mom, and Brian lives with my dad, stepmom, and younger brother." She sat back down on the bed and looked at the ground as she swung her legs back and forth.

Reid frowned. So her parents were divorced, and she didn't like talking about her family. "Why do you live with your aunt?" he was hoping for one more piece of information, and he got it.

"It's a quiet lifestyle, perfect for someone going to college," Brooke answered simply. She reached into her bag of chocolate treats and popped a few of the morsels into her mouth. "Do you have a job?"

Spencer smiled slightly at Brooke, and she smiled back at him. He didn't know that by bumping into Brooke on the day he put his mother into a home that he would also be gaining a long-term friend.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: So this is the rewrite of the prologue. It's a lot better than the first version if I do say so myself. Anyway, some information about the names mentioned earlier. Albert Bandura is a psychologist who is responsible for shedding light on how children learn by example. Piaget was the first to theorize the children develop in a specific sequence of stages from birth to adolescence. Freud is one psychologist that many people know about. He proposed the ideas behind basic dream theory. Skinner is the man who proposed Operate Conditioning as a way of learning as well as a system of reinforcement instead of the use of punishment. Pavlov is best known for his work with Classical Conditioning, in which through a series of steps he conditioned a dog to salivate every time it heard a specific sound.

Anyway, Hope you enjoy the new prologue.

Ren

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	2. Chapter 1

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

0o0o0o0

Chapter One:

Spencer Reid entered Hotch's office awkwardly just as the team leader was getting ready to leave. "Hey Hotch."

"What is it Reid?" Hotch asked quickly, sorting the files on his desk. He glanced up at for a moment before looking down again. He had to get everything together for tomorrow, but as soon as it was finished he was off to make his son dinner.

"Can I get off early tomorrow?" Reid asked looking around the office. "I'm picking up a friend from the airport."

Hotch looked at the young genius and for a moment was stunned. Did he hear friend? Reid almost never talked about anyone outside of the BAU. He smiled after a moment and nodded. "Yeah, go ahead."

"Thank you," Reid said before leaving the office and heading home. He had to pick up his apartment before Brooke's arrival.

0o0o0o0

The next day Reid stood at Dulles International Airport. He waited among the expectant family and friends of the passengers who were currently making their way from the gate to baggage claim. Reid focused his attention on the scores of people coming out of the terminal, waiting, looking for his friend.

He stopped looking when his eyes locked on his friend as she wove her way through the men in business suits and the mothers trying to keep their toddlers under control.

Brooke stood at five foot eight, but she still looked like a high school senior in her jeans and a simple grey V-neck t-shirt. Her long brown hair was pulled into a messy bun and her signature black plastic rimmed glasses rested on her nose. Hey grey eyes smiled as she spotted Reid. She hopped over childishly causing her green canvas messenger bag to bob.

She stopped and looked at Reid. "What did you do to your hair?" she laughed lightly and rolled her eyes.

Reid reached up and raked his fingers through his hair. "What's wrong with it?"

Brooke walked forward and hugged Reid. "I'm sorry; I've just only seen you with long hair. It's good to see you again Spencer," she spoke as she rested her chin on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Reid awkwardly hugged her back. "You too," he said. "Are you hungry?" he asked patting her on the back to break the hug.

Brooke frowned as she backed up. For her hugs had a mutual end and a pat on the back forced the end to come sooner.

"Only if I'm buying," Brooke answered with a wink.

"There's an Indian place nearby," he suggested, hoping that Brooke liked Indian food as much as he did. They hadn't eaten a meal together in several years. All of their communication taking place over the phone.

"Sounds yummy," Brooke said. "Thanks for letting me use your spare bedroom. The thought of staying with one of my brothers really bothers me." She curled her lip back slightly. She loved her brothers, but they had a tendency to get over protective of their baby sister.

"Why did you leave London?" Reid asked. "I thought you liked it there."

The two started heading towards the revolving baggage carousals. Brooke fiddled with a thick leather bracelet that was on her left wrist. Another one was on her right wrist. Feint markings could be seen from under the bracelets. She poked her cheek out with her tongue in thought.

"I love London, I hate the dreary weather," Brooke answered with the slightest moan.

"So are you going to find a job?" Reid asked wondering how she was going to live in a city full of politicians and business men.

"I have a job. I write books, good ones," she stated matter-of-factly.

"I mean as a psychologist." Spencer wondered how she wrote while still chasing criminals throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Brooke frowned, "I have a couple of job offers." She had to talk to someone first about her offers.

"I don't see why you haven't applied for the FBI."

"Maybe because I don't wish to return to school. Plus they have you. They don't need another genius profiler," Brooke stopped in front of carousels and looked for her bags. She reached out and grabbed a large black suitcase with a thick red ribbon tied on handle. Brooke looked at Reid, "What happens if you have to go on a case?" she asked as she looked of her bag for damage.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I'm staying at your place while I look for a Condo in the DC area. If you have to leave on a case, I need to be able to still get into the apartment," Brooke answered not looking at him as she focused on the revolving belt and the large luggage that fell from the ramp.

"I have an extra key at home," Reid explained. He stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels.

"Good, I would hate to be locked out." Brook said as she grabbed another suitcase, this time a smaller version of her first with a thick green ribbon.

0o0o0o0

An hour later the two were sitting in a colorful and lively restaurant. The walls were covered in bright yellows, oranges, and reds, with classic Indian design scattered around. Brooke sat next to Reid poking at her bright red meat. "What makes you think the FBI can't have you and me working for them?" Reid asked.

"I think working for the FBI would be great, but I don't want to go to the academy," Brooke answered never looking up from her food.

"Why not?"

"Because Spencer, our mutual friend David Rossi has taught me everything I know about the FBI and profiling. I hate repeating stuff and that would be the academy for me. Keep in mind; I've spent time in war zones teaching our soldier techniques in spotting deception. So I had to go through military training. What else can the academy teach me?" She looked at him and rested her head in the palm of her hand and smiled.

Spencer poked at his food. "Have you actually been to the BAU?"

"When it was a bunker," Brooke answered. "I was little. Mostly I would sit in on lectures at the academy."

"Why don't you come with me tomorrow?"

Brooke pulled her bag into her lap and pulled out her wallet, a simple black clutch, as the waitress came over with the check. She dropped a card onto the check and handed it back to the waitress. She reached in and pulled out a laminated visitor's badge. "I got this when I would consult with the London office. It works here in the US as well."

Reid grabbed the badge and looked at it. "You got paid to consult didn't you?"

"When you're a deception expert it turns out the FBI likes your help. Anyway, it's not a big deal. I was working with Interpol at the time."

"Then you should apply for the FBI," Reid stated. A part of him wondered why his friend wasn't jumping at the chance to be a part of the federal government. She jumped at the Interpol offer seven years ago.

"Drop it Spencer." Brooke sighed setting her fork down on the plate.

The waitress came back with the receipt and Brooke signed it quickly. She stood up and looked at him. "Ready?"

The two left the restaurant. Reid unlocked his old Volvo and reached over to unlock Brooke's door. She slipped in to the seat. "When are you going to get a new car?" she asked. You had this since before I moved to London.

"I take the train to work, this just works for everything else." Reid said. "Do you need anything?"

Brooke shook her head and leaned against the window. She closed her eyes and let out a small sigh.

0o0o0o0

Reid unlocked his door and let Brooke in. She looked around and a smile made its way onto her lips. "So this is where you live."

"Yes, the guest room is across from the bathroom," he answered pointing down the small hallway.

Reid's condo was full of bookshelves. Old books, new books, binders, and stacks of paper were found strategically placed in the crowded shelves. An old tan couch sat in the center of the living room. It faced the balcony which had a nice view of the DC area. A small coffee table sat in front of it. An old chess board sat on the left side of the table.

The dining room table could only seat two. The kitchen wasn't meant for entertaining with its closed in atmosphere and little room for movement.

Brooke headed down the hall and entered the bland guest room. She shook her head. "Spencer, your killing me," she said as she looked at the tan blanket.

"What?" Reid asked from the living room.

"Nothing," Brooke answered.

She dropped her suitcases on the bed and left the room. She found Reid sitting on the couch looking at an old book.

"You don't have a TV," she said. _How can you not have a TV now adays?_

"Why would I need one?"

"Please say you have wireless," she asked hopefully.

"No," his simple answer caused Brooke's shoulders to sag as he continued to flip through the old text.

"Spencer, you're aversion to technology is going to be a real problem," Brooke groaned. How was she going to check email?

"There's a Starbuck's down the street."

Brooke planted herself on the couch next to him. "How are you Spencer?" she asked slipping into counseling mode. It was easy for her to do and often times she never meant for it to happen.

"What do you mean?"

Brooke looked over at him, "I don't know, I guess I want to know how you've been doing. Seeing as you've been shot in the leg, and let's not get into that two weeks I couldn't reach you, only to find out from Uncle Dave you were in the hospital. You've been held hostage, twice, kidnapped, and drugged," she looked at him. Her voice softened as she relaxed a bit. "I talk to you on the phone all the time, but that doesn't give me a proper gauge of how you're doing."

Reid looked at her. "I'm fine, really. What about you? You were in Israel when it was bombed, and you've been running through Europe chasing international killers and criminals."

"I was chasing mostly drug dealers and white collar criminals." Brooke stated. She looked up at the ceiling as if remembering a distant memory. "Some things just stay with you Spencer. When I got back from Israel, I spent a couple weeks in a small village with a friend."

"Sounds nice," he said. There were times where a quite cottage seemed like the ideal place to be. She was right though. Some cases stay with you. He inwardly pushed away the thoughts of Henkle and Foyet.

"Spencer, you trust me with the things going on in your world," Brooke said continuing to look up at the ceiling. "Don't change that."

Spencer looked at her before nodding. Brooke let out a long sigh before slapping her open hands against the couch cushions.

"I'm going to grab a shower. Where are your towels?"

"Closet next to your room," Reid answered as if it was normal for him to have a guest. She was his first guest, so he wondered how his attitude was so casual. Was it because Brooke had always been casual to him.

"Thanks," Brooke stood up and walked into the guest room. She opened a suitcase and pulled out her pajamas and bath supplies. "Hey, you're bathroom's going to smell like raspberries."

Reid looked towards the hallway and sighed. Why did people use scented bath products. "Okay."

A half hour later, Brooke came out of the bathroom in a black tank top and pajama shorts. She found Reid asleep on the couch.

"Spencer, wake up. I imagine your room is more comfortable."

Reid jolted slightly and stood up. He headed into his room as Brooke walked into the guest room.

"Good night." Reid said as Brooke moved to close her door.

"Night." Brooke answered. He closed his door and crawled under the sheets and turned off the light.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note 2.0: Well the first chapter didn't have a lot of changes to it, but I did add and edit so I hope it comes out as a better piece.


	3. Chapter 2

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Two:

Brooke woke up to Reid shaking her shoulder. She moaned and buried her face into the pillow.

"You have to get up if you want to go to the BAU," Reid stated.

She sat up and gestured for Reid to leave the room. Reid left the room quietly and Brooke slid out of the bed and onto the floor. She opened her suitcase and fumbled around for some decent clothes. Her final choice came down to a blue button up shirt and a black satin vest with a pair of dark blue boot cut jeans. She rolled up her sleeves and grabbed a pair of simple black all-stars.

When she came out of the room she found Reid messing with his tie. He wore a brown button up with a cream linen vest with a pair of black pants. His messenger bag rested on the couch and his shoes were by the door.

Brooke walked over. "I should be okay right."

Reid gave the needed once-over and nodded. "Yeah, you should be fine."

"I need tea." Brooke said sitting on the couch as she pulled her socks on. She untied the laces on her shoes and pulled them on effortlessly. "Or a latte."

"Why don't you just drink regular coffee?"

"Because regular coffee is weird, a latte is tasty."

"And four dollars more."

"Three actually," Brooke stood up and walked over to one of the dining room chairs and grabbed her bag and slipped it over her shoulder.

Reid handed her a key. She pulled a lanyard of key chains and keys from the front pocket of her bag and slipped the key onto a ring.

"Are you okay taking the train?"

"It's better than taking that clunker you call a car."

0o0o0o0

Brooke followed Reid into the BAU only to look around. "Hey you have windows now," she smiled.

Reid looked around and spotted Hotch in his office. "Did you meet Hotch before?"

"No. I was following Uncle Dave all the time. He didn't really feel the need to introduce me to people."

Reid headed for Hotch's office and Brooke followed closely behind him. Reid knocked on the lead agents office door and came in. "Hotch, this is my friend, Dr. Brooklyn Taylor. I met her in Vegas ten years ago."

Hotch stood up. "You've been helping our soldiers overseas when it comes to deception."

Brooke smiled. "That's me," she said taking the offered hand. "Spencer's always talking about you guys and it's been so long since I've been here; I thought I would stop by to see how much it's changed."

"If you met Reid ten years ago, that means he was eighteen."

Brooke nodded. "I was seventeen and lost on the strip. Spencer offered his assistance."

Hotch looked at the youngest member of his team and saw that Brooke's words embarrassed him a bit. "That was nice of him."

"It was."

"So you're just here to look around," Hotch asked.

"Oh yeah, the actual thought of boredom scares me a little, so I thought I would try to fight it."

"Just don't distract Reid," Hotch said. "Or Dave," he added.

"Of course not Agent Hotchner."

The two left the office and Reid walked over to his desk. He pulled an empty chair over and Brooke sat down.

Brooke pulled her MacBook out and turned it on. "I feel like a kid sitting in Serena's office when she would try to keep me out of trouble."

"How often did you get into trouble?"

Brooke looked at her friend and shook her head. "Like I would tell you."

Reid pulled over some cases and began looking them over. His mind quickly processed the words written out by a detective in need of assistance from the FBI's most brilliant minds. He looked over to find Brooke typing quickly on her computer completely immersed in one of her own world of words and wonder.

Both of them stopped their work when Morgan, Garcia, and Prentiss walked up.

"Who's this?" Morgan asked.

Brooke turned to look at the three of the other members of the team. She smiled slightly and gave a slight two fingered wave.

"This is Dr. Brooklyn Taylor. She's a psychologist who works and specializes in deception."

"I just broke out of an Insane Asylum."

"Brooke!" Reid exclaimed growing even more embarrassed. "When are you going to stop doing that?"

"Sorry, it makes things interesting," Brooke explained. She closed her laptop after saving her document and looked once more at the three. "I will often say things that aren't true to see a person's reaction. I'm very sorry if I concerned you."

"These are Agents Morgan and Prentiss, as well as our technical analyst Garcia."

"Pleasure."

"So, how do you know boy genius over here," Garcia asked.

"I was a damsel in distress on the Las Vegas Strip and Spencer was my knight in shining armor that saved me from the perils of boredom."

Reid grabbed another file and began looking it over, never looking up to meet his teammates amused looks.

"You've known him that long?" Morgan asked not quite believing that Reid had actually managed to snag a friend at the age of eighteen.

"Yeah, Spencer's a great guy. Hanging out with him is kind of fun."

Prentiss laughed slightly. She could never imagine Reid hanging out. After all they all had to force him to go to a bar. "How often did you guys hang out Reid?" she asked.

Reid picked up a pen and began writing. Brooke rolled her eyes. "Come on Spencer, don't go all closed off personality on me now." She looked at the team. "We were both going to school in California so we would meet in Monterey once a month. After school, we met when we could; mostly we talked on the phone. I moved to England for the past couple years, so it's been a while since we've hung out. It was all phone calls because a certain someone doesn't have email."

"How long have you had your Ph.D.?" Morgan asked.

"Seven years and she had two." Rossi said as he walked past. "Brooklyn, my office now."

"Hey Uncle Dave." Brooke greeted. She grabbed her bag and her computer and squeezed past the team. "It was nice meeting you all," she said as she ran up the stairs to catch up with the senior agent.

Once she reached Rossi, the two began to exchange the normal pleasantries.

"How does she know Rossi?" Garcia asked.

"He's an old family friend. I'm not sure on all the details, but her dad asked him to be her godfather," Reid answered. "It helped her in the end, because he gave her fundamental anecdotal evidence for her dissertation."

"So she's a genius like you," Prentiss said. "She got her Ph.D. at what twenty. She sure doesn't act like you."

Reid nodded as he watched Brooke hugged Rossi before entering his office.

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat in one of the comfortable office chairs and looked around Rossi's office. Rossi sat next to her and smiled slightly.

"So you've decided to move to Virginia."

"DC actually, but yes, I'm moving here," Brooke answered. "Surprise!" she waved her hands quickly before resting them on the arms of the chair.

"You're just like your grandmother," Rossi said. "How are you?"

"Um… I haven't figured that out yet."

"Any interesting job offers."

"I actually need to talk to you about that. My dad's been less than helpful."

"So once again I'm duty bound to play the role of wise godfather," Rossi sighed. He stood up and looked at her. "I'll be back, don't move."

"Wait where are you going?" Brooke asked as she watched him leave the office. She slouched in her chair and sighed.

Rossi came back five minutes later and handed her a breakfast sandwich. He held another and started eating.

"So, what's eating you kid?"

"I've been offered two jobs. I'm not sure which one to take."

"What are they?"

"I can be a counselor at a teen center in DC. It doesn't pay much, but I would be working with the troubled youth of America."

"Admirable, what about the other one?"

"It's a teaching position," Brooke answered. "At George Washington University, they want me to head up the psychology department and teach the more advanced courses of psychology."

"Clinical and Criminal?"

Brooke nodded.

"The teaching position has a higher pay, but isn't one on one like the counseling job," Rossi summarized. "As a teacher, you'd be in charge of teaching hundreds and only a few would stick out as memorable."

"You see the problem," Brooke said. "I want to teach, but I don't even know if I could do it. Interpol isn't exactly known for teaching."

"I'm lecturing today," Rossi began. "A case you know quite well too. Do you want to guest lecture with me?"

"What exactly is your lecture on?" Brooke asked as hundreds of cases flew through her brain.

"The Green River Killer."

"Gary Ridgeway. I was growing up during his reign of terror on King County prostitutes."

"It's an hour long lecture, are you up to it?"

"As a way of testing my teaching ability?"

"We're going to cover the profile and his history. It's only a beginner's profiling class."

Brooke nodded. "I guess having the case memorized helps."

"When don't you have a case memorized?"

"Not my fault," Brooke said. "It's the first case you had me profile."

0o0o0o0

Morgan, Prentiss, and Reid had decided to sit in on Rossi's lecture. It was only beginning when they took their seats in the back of the room. All three were surprised to see Brooke standing next to him looking at the ground and tapping her fingers against the wall.

"All right, welcome everyone. I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Brooklyn Taylor. She's here today because the case we're discussing is one she's very familiar with."

"Hey," Brooke smiled.

The academy student all said hello and Rossi began the lecture.

"Now, Dr. Taylor wrote her dissertation on the benefits of criminal profiling," Rossi stated. "So she and I will be talking about the Green River Killer. Dr. Taylor, why don't you start?"

"Thank you Agent Rossi. Now, the Green River Killer Gary Ridgeway was raised in the McMicken Heights of SeaTac Washington. His mother was controlling almost to an obsessive level and reports say that Ridgeway witnessed his parent's violent argument quite often.

"Now, Ridgeway had a habit of wetting the bed well into his later years of life. His mother would actually use this to belittle him in front of friend and family."

"And as many of you all know, extended bedwetting is a childhood precursor to psychopathy," Rossi stated. "Now, Ridgeway was not an intelligent child and even tested at an IQ of eighty-two. He even had to repeat one year of school twice in order to receive passing grades.

"His classmates described him as forgettable until at the age of sixteen he stabbed a six-year-old boy."

"According to the boy and even Ridgeway himself, Ridgeway walked away laughing while saying 'I always wondered what it would be like to kill someone" Brooke explained.

Many of the students exchanged horrified glances at the pictures of a young Gary Ridgeway on the projection screen. Reid watched as Brooke quickly gained a relaxed demeanor in front of the student. She was dealing with people close to her age and it didn't seem to be a problem. That was something he struggled with his entire life and he still had problems talking with people.

"Boy, she nothing like you," Morgan whispered.

"Shh, she's talking again," Prentiss said lightly slapping Morgan's arm.

"Ridgeway, joined the Navy and actually served on a supply ship in Vietnam where he saw combat," Brooke started once more. "Through interviews with family and friends, we heard that Ridgeway was friendly, but strange. Both of his marriages ended in divorce because infidelity. And in ninety-one both a prostitute and his second wife claimed that he had put them both in chokeholds. A skill he learned in the military."

"Now looking at victimology, the task force set up to find Ridgeway, determined that he started with manual strangulation but quickly changed to a ligature. It was determined that the Green River Killer would likely have crimes related to prostitution. Ridgeway was made a suspect in eighty-three when he was arrested on charges related to prostitution.

"He actually took and passed a polygraph in eight-seven. Even so, hair and saliva samples were taken for DNA analysis, which as we all know led to his arrest."

"Most of Ridgeway's victims weren't discovered until they were completely decomposed remains. Any body found that hadn't completely decomposed were found posed nude. As profiler we classified Ridgeway as a sexual sadist." Rossi explained.

0o0o0o0

Rossi watched as academy student walked out of the room. Brooke was leaning against the white board watching everyone. He walked over to her. "So, how do you feel?"

"I'm the psychologist, that's my question to ask," Brooke smiled. "It was fun. A strange feeling overall, but ultimately it was enjoyable."

"Do you have your answer?"

Brooke nodded and looked at the ceiling. "Yeah, I think I have a pretty good idea."

Rossi patted her on the shoulder. "Glad I could help."

Morgan, Prentiss, and Reid walked over. "A joint lecture, you never do those," Morgan said.

"I was helping Brooke figure something out."

"He's only being nice, because he feels bad for not calling me on my birthday."

"I was on a case." Rossi said.

"A call is always nice. Or an email, unless it's Dr. Reid."

"Are you thinking of joining the FBI?" Prentiss asked.

"I was offered a teaching position at George Washington University. I wasn't sure I was up for it, so Uncle Dave helped me show my potential." Brooke answered. "Now, if y'all will excuse me I have to make a phone call and make sure I can still have the job."

"You never mentioned the University job," Reid said. It bothered him a bit to think that she didn't tell him about the offer.

"Spencer I can talk to about most things, but I was stuck and Uncle Dave's my go to man when I'm stuck." Brooke answered. "I'll talk about it later okay."

Brooke left the room and headed down a hallway as she looked up the deans number

0o0o0o0

Author's note: So we've come to the end of chapter two. I'm going to start posting shout outs to some of the reviewers of Vegas Knight. That is if you guys review. If you don't know how, it's really simple. You just click the green text below and you can submit a signed or anonymous reviews. I'll take either.

On a note, if you think that Brooke is straying into the realm of Mary Sue, tell me. I still have to develop Brooke's character a bit so there should be some decent depth to her character in future. You'll find out about her family and her childhood.

Also, any profiling mistakes I've made, I'm sorry. I watch the show, but I'm not a profiler. The whole Sexual Sadist thing. I looked it up along with a lot of other terms and tried to find one that fit Ridgeway best and this was what came up.

So long people. I hope to hear from you guys.


	4. Chapter 3

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout outs: Thank you **__**mangofishy**__** for your nice review. Wait a bit; a relationship takes a bit to develop. Plus, you have to look at the fact that they're close friends. It's going to start to change so keep reading.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Three:

Reid and Brooke sat in a quiet Starbucks and Brooke was searching for condos in the DC area while Reid quickly flipped through the pages of an old book. Reid looked at her while sipping his coffee. "Why didn't you tell me about the University offer?"

Brooke clicked on a website. "I didn't know if I wanted the job."

She turned the computer to face him. The screen showed a floor plan for a renovated packaging plant. It had been turned into a system of lofts and flats. The floor plan was a three level flat with a master bedroom on the lowest level and two bedrooms on the middle level. The third level was a large office that could be a fourth room. Reid looked at the price tag.

"It's expensive," Reid said. "Why do you need a loft that's twenty five hundred square feet?"

"I have a lot of stuff. Besides I anticipate housing friends when they bring their kids to see DC, so they can get some culture." Brooke answered. "I've been saving for a long time too, so it's not nearly as bad as you think it is."

Reid nodded and closed his book. Brooke smiled at him as she saved the condo complex's number.

"What do you think about me taking the teaching position?"

"You're good at it," Reid answered. "Everyone was listening to you."

"That's always a good thing."

"Are you meeting up with your brothers this week?"

"Blair and Brandon are taking me to lunch tomorrow, later were going to meet at Brian's bar," Brooke answered. "Do you want to come?"

"I don't drink Brooke. At least not very often."

"Neither do I, I'm a light weight," Brooke answered. "But I'm still going. If you aren't on a case this weekend you want to check this place out with me. House shopping is boring when you're by yourself."

"It's not a house it's a condominium," Reid said.

"Fine, Spencer would you like to check out this really cool condominium complex for a place for me to call home?" Brooke asked again.

Reid looked at her and she was typing on her computer. "Sure."

"Awesome, so you'll call me if you get a case right."

"I always do," Reid said. "Hey, how did Rossi meet your grandmother? And how did he become your godfather? You never told me."

"Actually Dave met Serena first. She was working as a legal secretary at a law firm and Uncle Dave was investigating the murder of a high profile lawyer. He met my grandmother later when he found out she was the 911 operator that took the call during the murder. Serena, my grandma, and Dave became fast friends.

"Ate the time, my dad was twenty and seeing my mom. Serena and grandma were so mad. They asked Dave to talk to him, because Uncle Dave is an expert in marriage," she laughed a bit. "Well Uncle Dave did talk to him albeit grudgingly at first. He was thirty-one and my grandmother and aunt were close to their forties.

"My dad came running to Uncle Dave when he found out my mom was pregnant, and David Rossi gave my dad a piece of wisdom and knowledge that helped him. He told my dad, that my mom and he were now responsible for a life and that they needed to care for that life. Little did Uncle Dave know my mother was pregnant with triplets.

"He also told my dad, that on the off chance of my mom and him splitting that he was still responsible for his kid. But my dad wasn't alone; he had his mom and Serena.

"Nine months later, my dad asked Uncle Dave to be our godfather. It pissed my mom off so much because she was an atheist. I was baptized against her will."

"You and Rossi are close."

Brooke pushed her computer away and picked up her cup of passion fruit tea. "Well yeah. The relationship he has with Serena is a lot like the relationship we have. They talk all the time. When I moved in with Serena, so I could go to college, they talked even more. Uncle Dave would even come for visits, so I would listen to him talk about some of his more famous cases. He's my mentor, much like Gideon is yours."

"Wait, your mom didn't want you baptized?" Reid asked.

"She wanted me to stay the hell away from religion. It doesn't really matter though, my family is full of lapsed Catholics and I only went to church when I was dragged there."

Brooke pulled her email up and started deleting all of her spam. "Spam, spam, spam, don't care, spam, spam. Why don't you go into the spam folder like you should?"

"Another reason I don't have email."

"But it's easier to talk to people who are miles and miles away." Brooke said.

"I called you on the phone and I write my mother letters every day. You are the only two I talked to that are farther than a fifty mile radius and that I actually care about talking to."

Brooke smiled. "It's nice to know you care Spencer," she said. "How is your mom?"

"She's doing well. What about Chloe?"

Brooke shook her head. "She's not to thrilled with the idea of being labeled crazy, but the home she's in is great. She's calling me all the time to talk about what she's doing. She told me about this new story idea that she wants to co-write with me. It should be fun."

"That's good," Reid said. "Are you finished checking your mail?"

Brooke nodded and closed the computer. The two left the coffee shop and headed for the older genius's apartment.

"Can you at least try to come to the bar tomorrow. They guys really like to poke fun at you, but they mean well. Plus, I'm pretty sure Brian has some Star Trek related questions for you."

"I'll try. It all depends on if a case comes up tomorrow."

0o0o0o0

Reid was packing up to go when Morgan walked over. A teasing smiled played on his lips. "Going to hang out with Dr. Taylor?" he asked.

"I'm meeting her at her brother's bar."

Prentiss looked up from her computer screen. "She has a brother?"

"Four actually. Three of them live here in Virginia while her fourth brother is still in Los Angeles in school," Reid answered.

Prentiss stood up. "Can we come with?" Prentiss asked. "I mean we didn't really get to talk with her, she spent the entire day in Rossi's office."

Rossi walked up. "Reid, you're meeting up with Brooklyn and her brother's right?" he asked.

Reid nodded.

Rossi looked at the team and sighed, "Even though I strongly objected, she's invited you guys as well. Do you need a ride Reid?"

"I can give him a lift," Morgan smiled. "Where is it?"

"It's a bar called New Haven; it's located on N street north west." Rossi said.

0o0o0o0

Upon entering the bar the BAU team found themselves in modern version of _Cheers_. Three of the walls in the Bar were lined with large booths. The corner booths were larger so as to seat a group of eight to ten comfortably. Small tables that sat four were strategically placed on the main floor and the bar itself was surrounded by tall wooden bar stools.

They found Brooke in one of the corner booths between a set of twins. Like Brooke they had brown hair and grey eyes. One was in a black t-shirt and black cargo pants while the other was in a flannel button up with light blue jeans. Brooke was in a pair of black boot cut jeans and a blue t-shirt. One each of her wrists were leather bracelets. Across from them was an older man in tan slacks and a black polo. He had light brown hair and blue eyes.

Brooke smiled and waved enthusiastically at the group. The blue eyed man shook his head and glared at Brooke playfully.

"Let Spencer and his friends sit down. Uncle Dave too."

Rossi nodded to the man as he slipped out of the booth. "Brandon."

"David."

The team slipped into the booth and Brooke looked at her godfather. "Agent Hotchner went home to his son." Rossi said.

"Okay."

The twin on the end slid out and looked at the group. "Hello everyone, welcome to New Haven. I'm Brian, Blair's identical twin and Brooke's fraternal twin. I'm the owner of this fine establishment. So, what can I get you?"

"You already know what Brandon, Uncle Dave, and I want." The second twin Blair smiled.

"Can I get a MGD 64?" Prentiss asked.

"Red wine." Garcia smiled.

"I'll have beer from the tap," Morgan stated.

"Brooke?" Brian asked.

"Sprite."

"No little sis, you're drinking tonight," Blair said.

Brooke sighed. She knew her brothers too well to get out of her present situation. "Sam Adams," she said. "You know my favorite."

"You too Dexter," Brian said looking at Reid.

"Stop calling him that," Brooke scolded.

"Star, you can't stop me from nicknaming your friends," Brian smirked.

"I'll get the same as Brooke," Reid said.

Brian walked over and Brooke looked at the group. "So that was my darling brother Brian. As you heard earlier, this is Blair and Brandon. I'll let the rest of you introduce yourselves."

"Why does he call you Star?" Garcia asked after the introductions were made.

Brooke removed her leather bracelet on her left wrist and revealed a small feint shooting star tattoo. "I got it when I turned eighteen. Mostly to remind myself of my grandmother who passed away after I graduated high school. She looked shooting stars," she explained.

She removed the other bracelet on her right wrist to reveal a feint but complicated Celtic knot. "This one is Brian and Blair's fault."

Blair laughed. "Oh come on, you like it," he said. He pulled up his left t-shirt sleeve to reveal the same tattoo only darker and larger. "Brian's has his on his chest."

Brian came over with the tray of drinks and sat down.

"So you only have two tattoos." Prentiss said.

"Brooke has five tattoos," Brandon answered. "We all do. It was something we decided a while ago. I was an Army Ranger so I have 'Ranger' on one arm, a different Celtic knot on the other. My star sign, Chinese zodiac, and my dog tags on my chest."

"I have the knot, the air force emblem on my other arm and my dog tag, star sign, and zodiac on the chest as well." Blair said.

Everyone looked a bit confused at the concept of all five of them having tattoos. Brian looked at everyone as he took a sip of his beer. "The rule was that is one got a tattoo the rest had to," he explained. "Brooke's the only one who found creative ways to hide hers. The only difference in my tattoos is I was a seal."

"Unfortunately, they were the most painful thing ever." Brooke mumbled.

"So all three of you were in the military?" Prentiss asked.

Blair nodded. "All different branches obviously, our mom wasn't too thrilled."

Reid looked at the sibling. "Why?" he asked. He looked at Brooke, "You're mom hates the armed services and Catholics?"

Brandon shook his head. "Our mom isn't as open minded as she thinks she is. She doesn't completely agree with the choices the four of us have made," he said. "But I believe Brooke still has three more tattoos to tell you guys about."

Brooke sipped her beer and sighed. She turned around slightly and lifted her hair up to reveal the outline of a four-leaf clover. "The other two are on the top of my feet. Spencer knows what they are."

This statement brought smiles to the teams face except for Rossi and Reid. Reid looked at his drink and took a big gulp.

"What are they?" Morgan asked.

Reid didn't look at anyone. "A monarch butterfly and Button Funray."

"What's a Button Funray?" Morgan asked.

Brooke pulled out her phone and a picture popped up, "They're Button Mums."

"That's on your foot?" Prentiss asked. "It has so many petals."

Brooke nodded. Garcia looked at the picture. "That's cool."

"Serena gave me an earful for the knot, she was livid." Rossi said.

"It's not like they can be seen. Besides, we weren't going to pay to have them removed." Blair said.

"I had to live with Uncle Dave for a month," Brooke exclaimed after taking another sip from her drink. "She was so mad. I mean I was in Virginia anyway, but still she told me to stay an extra month."

"Tattoos aren't that bad," Morgan said. "I have a couple."

"Yeah, well Serena doesn't think they're practical," Brooke said crossing her arms.

"Who's Serena?" Garcia asked.

"The triplet's great aunt. Brooklyn lived with her while going to school at Stanford," Rossi answered.

"So, Brandon, you're their half sibling?" Prentiss asked.

Brandon nodded. "I'm the product of my mother's first marriage."

"How did three California natives come to live in Virginia?" Garcia asked. "Brooklyn came here to teach."

"Just call me Brooke, Uncle Dave and Serena are the only ones who really call me by my full name." Brooke smiled.

"I was stationed here." Brian answered. "I really enjoy this place, so I stayed and bought this place to have my dream job."

"Blair and I started a security company here four years ago. We deal with private security at home and at private events." Brandon said.

"Reid said you have a younger brother in LA," Garcia prompted.

The triplets nodded. "He's our half-brother as well. He's fifteen and lives with our dad and stepmom." Blair answered. "His name is Neil."

"It doesn't start with a 'B'"

"All our mom's choosing." Brooke said.

"What were you doing while in England?" Morgan asked.

"The same thing you guys do. I was working with Interpol. I would also go to the Middle East to teach our soldier how to spot a lie when I didn't have a case," Brooke answered.

"Yes, because apparently our genius baby sister can't stay out of trouble." Blair said nudging her.

"I was never in danger," Brooke sighed.

"Israel," Brandon said.

"Then there was the bank heist in Moscow," Brian added.

Brooke reached for her drink and took a long sip. "So what do the members of this fine BAU team do for fun?"

"I like to knit, and play MMORPG's"

Brooke looked at her, "Really which ones?"

"Camelot and Guild Wars."

"Awesome,"

"What about you Agent Morgan?" Brian asked.

"I like to run and play with my dog Clooney."

"And finally Agent Prentiss," Blair smiled.

"Get that wolfish grin off your face." Brooke sighed.

"I like to curl up with a glass of wine and a good romance."

"I knew it." Brooke smiled. "Replace the romance with a mystery and you have me right there."

"What was the last book you read?" Garcia asked.

"The entire Stephanie Plum series," Brooke smiled.

"So you read fiction unlike Reid."

"I should, I write it," Brooke said. "If I don't know what's out there I run the risk of writing something that's always out there."

Brain found his attention drawn to the door as someone entered his bar. A stand in bartender was in place so he could afford to sit and talk with his sister. His eyes widened slightly as he recognized the newest addition to the bar atmosphere. He nudged his sister quickly.

"Ow, what the hell," Brooke looked at him and turned her gaze towards the front door. "Neil?"

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Chapter three is out and readable. Yay. So here's the deal I hand wrote this a while ago so chapters are going to come out quickly at first because all I'm doing is editing and adding. Anyway I'm trying to get as much out there as possible so you have something to read, but I'm also working on a Rossi fanfiction at the moment as well.

Although, the more reviews I get may provoke me to write faster. I have a lot of ideas for this story and it's going to be fun writing it. All you have to do is let me know how I'm doing. They don't all have to be positive either. Negative reviews are just as helpful.

I'm going to continue to put up shout outs for people who review (negative or positive) so look for your name.

I hope that you guys stay with this story. I like writing it.

Ren


	5. Chapter 4

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: All right this chapter's shout out belongs to the great reviewers known as **__**mangofishy**__** and **__**andnowforsomethingoriginal**__**. Thank you both for your reviews of the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this little blurb dedicated to those who take their time to tell me how I'm doing.**_

_**Remember, you can't get better if you don't know what you're doing wrong.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Four:

Blair and Brandon looked towards the entrance. The BAU sat confused by the slightly panicked air traveling between the four siblings. They couldn't see the entrance from their seats.

"Is your dad anywhere?" Brandon asked.

"No, he's by himself," Blair nodded. "Maybe they're outside."

"No, no they're not," Brooke shook her head.

"Then he's here in my bar because Serena is still in the car grabbing her purse." Brian said.

Brooke shook her head once more. "No, I'm pretty sure he's by himself."

The young teenager who had just entered the bar walked over to the table after spotting Brian. Rossi stiffened slightly when the teen came into sight.

The teenage boy had a depressed look on his face. He was in basketball shorts and baggy t-shirt. He held a duffel bag and a backpack. His shaggy dark brown bangs fell in front of his blue amber eyes slightly. "Please don't make me go back," he said.

"How the hell did you get here?" Brian asked getting out of his seat and letting the teen take it. Brian pulled a chair over.

"Neil, what are you doing in DC?"

"I hate living with my mom and dad," the teen answered.

"So you thought you would come live with one of us?" Blair asked

Brooke took a gulp of her drink and sighed. She looked at the teen and rested a hand on the table and began drumming her fingers across the hard wood. "Call your mom."

Neil's eyes widened in shock. "What, No!" he exclaimed.

"Neil, call Callie right now," Brooke stated once more. Her tone had taken on a hard manor.

"I left my phone at Jordan's"

"Oh my god," Blair shook his head. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in? How much trouble we could be in?"

Brooke pulled her phone out and began searching through her contacts. She handed it to the teen, "Call Callie right now, I'm not taking no for an answer."

Neil reluctantly too the phone as Brooke turned to the BAU. "Everyone, this is our younger brother Neil who should be in LA right now. Neil meet everyone."

Neil held the phone to his ear. "Mom? What, no Brooke's not in Orange."

Brooke pushed her younger brother out of the booth and took a set of keys from Brian. She guided the teen to an office behind the bar. Brian and Blair followed after they excused themselves. Rossi and Brandon exchanged a momentary glance. Both knew what was going on. They had witness the family trials for almost twenty eight years.

"What just happened?" Morgan asked.

"Our family is complicated." Brandon stated. "Enough to send the best psychologist running out the door."

The team grew silent but Garcia broke the silence.

"What did Blair mean by they were in trouble?" she asked.

"It's complicated." Rossi said. "Let's just say that there are very specific reasons these four are living on this side of the US instead of on the west coast."

Reid fiddled with his drink. He knew almost everything about the Taylor family dynamics. It was riddled with divorce, court orders, and flat out war.

Fifteen minutes later and the team was talking with Brandon about his experience in the military. They watched as Brooke came out of the office alone and walked outside. Brandon sighed as the rest of the family came out of the office. Neil looked around for his sister.

"Where did Brooke go?" he asked Rossi.

"Outside. She does that." Brandon answered.

Brian handed Neil a glass of soda and took his seat once more with his brother. Neil sat on the edge of the booth. He looked over at Reid. "Hey Dr. Reid."

"Hello."

"So Brooke's staying at your place."

"Yes."

"That's cool. I'm going to spend the summer here. As soon as Brooke finds a condo, I'm going to move in with her.

"Where are you staying till then?" Reid asked, not too keen on the idea of having an extra person in his apartment.

"Brian's" Neil answered. "If the summer goes well, Brooke will enroll me in school here as well."

"Well we can now test our theory." Blair laughed.

"What theory?" Morgan asked glad for the lighter atmosphere.

"That Brooke would make a good parent." Brian smiled.

"But Neil's her brother."

"You haven't seen it Dexter, but when our sister isn't wrapped up in the world of Psychology and Sociology, she exudes this soccer mom mentality," Brandon explained.

"No she doesn't," Reid stated.

Rossi looked at Neil. "Brooke doesn't just learn from her mistakes, she learns from other peoples," he explained. "When you grow up disappointed in your parents like she did, you aren't going to act like them."

Brooke came in a walked up to Neil.

"Brooke-"

"Not another word. There is a very big reason I'm doing this. I understand; it's a very big reason I stay the hell away from California. You're tired of it too, but that doesn't mean living with me will be like a vacation. There are rules."

"Thank you," Neil said.

"You're welcome now go upstairs, you're not allowed in a Bar. Just so you know, if you don't keep your grades up, it's not just your ass on the line."

Neil stood up and nodded. He headed back into the office. She sat down and slouched slightly. "Well, at least the boys get to test their theory," she said.

The group laughed slightly and Brooke looked at them in extreme confusion.

"We were just talking about it." Rossi said.

"Of course you were." Brooke mumbled she sat up and grabbed her beer once more.

"Wait if your brother lives with you, wouldn't that effect your dating potential?" Morgan asked.

"Nope. I have three brothers to choose from for babysitting. Plus he's fifteen, he can take care of himself if I go out to dinner," Brooke answered. "Spencer, we're still on for checking out the condo right?"

"If we don't have a case."

"Wait you're shopping for a condo with Reid?" Garcia asked.

Brooke looked at the group. "You pick on him so easily. Why do you all do that?"

"He's the youngest, it's the same reason your brothers pick on you and Neil." Rossi said.

0o0o0o0

Later that night Brooke sat on Reid's couch flipping through a book. She was in her pajamas and her hair had been pulled up into a messy bun. Reid walked out of the kitchen holding a tray that had two plates of toast and two glasses of water.

"I think I may have drunk too much." Brooke said. She reached over and grabbed a piece of toast.

"Three beers and a strawberry daiquiri." Reid answered.

"You had the same amount."

"Only because your brother demanded that I drink only alcohol." Reid said.

Brooke's toast gave off a large _crunch_ as she bit into the burned bread. She gave a content groan. After a couple bites she looked at the genius. "Whatever you do, do not wake me up tomorrow with loud pans," she said.

Reid nodded as he chewed some of his after drinking snack. "Do you want coke and breakfast jack tomorrow morning?"

Brooke nodded. She closed her book and set it on the coffee table.

"Why do you get embarrassed when you talk about me?" Brooke asked as she curled into the corner of the couch.

0o0o0o0

The next morning Brooke woke up to a loud knocking on the front door. "What the hell?"

She crawled out of her warm bed and found Reid coming out of his room. He was rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"I thought I said no loud pans," Brooke yawned.

"It's the front door."

"Why?"

Reid shook his head. He was just as confused as she was. No one came to his apartment. Not even to ask for sugar. In fact, he was pretty sure nobody who lived in the building knew that a one Dr. Spencer Reid was living in the apartment.

Brooke beat Reid to the door and opened it. She found herself face to face with a large buff man. "Hello?"

Reid came up from behind her and looked at the man. "Who are you?" he asked.

"You guys don't know how to stop do you?" the man stated. "I have to work early in the morning, but I can't sleep because you won't stop moaning and banging. Every night, how am I supposed to sleep?"

Brooke looked confused. "Excuse me?" she looked at Reid, "What's he talking about?"

Reid looked at the buff man. "You're looking for the people next to me," he said.

Brooke looked at the buff man. "What he said. Good night," she said before slamming the door on his face. "Am I missing something?"

"The neighbors like to have sex at odd hours of the night. You can't hear it here unless you're in the living room." Reid said.

Brooke walked over to the couch. "Please tell me you're kidding."

Reid shook his head. "The balcony doors aren't very strong so sound can travel through them easily. The neighbors also like to keep their balcony door open."

Brooke shivered and looked at Reid. "That's just gross. I mean, I understand the whole I want to be a part of you, but making it so that everyone can hear you is a little disturbing."

"I have earplugs."

"And I can sleep through a hurricane, still doesn't make it right."

Reid looked at his clock wall clock and sighed. It was only five in the morning. Brooke looked at the clock. "Time to take me to Jack in the Box," she mumbled.

Reid nodded and walked back towards his room. "Give me a minute."

Brooke walked into the guest room and grabbed some clothes. She slipped on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She pulled a brush through her hair quickly. She grabbed a pair of flip flop and pulled them on. Both of her tattoos were near the ankle and on the outside of the foot. She left the room and sat on the couch. "It's too early."

Reid came out a couple minutes later and grabbed his bag. "Let's go."

Brooke pushed herself off the couch and grabbed her bag. The two left the apartment and headed for the nearest breakfast establishment.

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat in a both poking at biscuits and gravy. They sat in a small dinner, eating breakfast. She smiled as she watched Reid cut his eggs.

"This is better than Jack in the Box." Brooke stated.

Reid nodded. "I have to go to work after this."

"Of course you do," Brooke said. "I have to get some things to figure out with this whole Neil thing."

"How is that going to work exactly?"

"I have to work out the rules for the power of attorney rights for Neil, so I can be in charge of his medical expenses while he's with me. I also need to get some papers filled out for the university."

"Like what?"

"It turns out there are a lot of legal matters to take care of before I officially become a teacher there. So I have to take care of that today."

"Do you need to use my car?"

"No, Brandon is letting me use one of his company cars. A nice, new, black Prius." Brooke smiled. "I'm happy."

"So, you aren't going to be bored."

"I shouldn't be, if I do get bored I can always call up my brothers to bother. Brian doesn't work in the morning."

Reid shook his head. "What about your friend who works at the Smithsonian."

"Karrie, she's in Japan right now."

The two continued to eat and exchange a couple of words. Mostly they ate in a comfortable silence while the two of them pondered the day's activities.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: So here is the fourth chapter in Vegas Knight. The next chapter we shall look into the task of buying a condo and setting it up. Yay! Actually Reid will be in that chapter very little, but some vital explanations are given so that's fun right?

Keep reviewing you guys, I like to listen, and if you review, you shall get a shout out in the beginning of the chapter. If you review for every chapter you will still be mentioned, because that's how much I enjoy seeing review.

TTFN

Ren.


	6. Chapter 5

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: So no one reviewed the last chapter but that's okay. Someone favorite the story though so I'd like to thank **__**angelgirl116**__** for the great compliment of being a favorite.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Five:

Brooke walked through a model loft set up for the purpose of giving the buyer an idea of what the place could look like. She remembered that at one point in her life, she wanted to set up model homes. The loft had been split into three levels. The main floor was the middle level and it accommodated a small dining room, living room, main bathroom, kitchen and two bedrooms.

Brooke smiled as she looked at the sophisticated kitchen. Black granite countertops, with stainless steel appliances and pine cupboards.

Neil came running up from flight of stairs. "Can I have this room?" he asked.

Brooke shook her head. "The bottom floor is the master bedroom and bath, so it would be mine. If I buy a loft like this, you'll be in one of the rooms up here," she said before heading up the second flight of stairs. The large open space could serve as another room or a den.

Overall it was the second largest area in the house but its fourth wall only came up from the ground halfway. The open wall space allowed Brooke to look down into the living room. "Hey Spencer, what do you think about this. My office and a place for my library of books?" she yelled thinking he was still downstairs.

"I'm right behind you."

Brooke turned and smiled. "Well?"

Neil came up the stairs. "Wow, can we put an entertainment center in here?"

"No," Brooke answered. "I haven't decided if I want to get this place. Spencer what do you think?"

"This place has a secure entrance; only people with a key can get in. Guests have to come through a monitored entrance and then page the person they're coming to see. So the complex is relatively safe. Its tandem parking and the gym here is beyond satisfactory," Reid began, "But there's no pool, and you were looking for one."

"Ah, but see there is a fifteen foot bonfire pit in the community area," Brooke pointed out.

Reid nodded. "It's only a ten minute drive from the university and twenty minutes away from me." Reid said. "All three of your brother's work place is a fifteen minute drive."

Brooke nodded. For the price and location, she probably couldn't find such a convenient location. She looked at the real estate agent. "You said the schools around here are good right?"

0o0o0o0

Brooke stood in her new condo and looked around in joy. She had bought her first home. She stood in the living room in a jean skirt and a light purple tank top. Her hair was in a long braid and fell over her left shoulder.

Blair and Brian were setting up the living room while Neil and Brandon set up the office. Brooke watched as her brothers moved the couch over the nicely polished hard wood floors that occupied the main living area. The brand new TV and entertainment center was the first thing to be put up.

"You know we'll be coming by on Sundays for football right?" Blair asked.

Brooke shook her head. "Whatever."

Neil looked down into the living room. "Hey sis, how many books do you have?"

"Six hundred and thirty-two," Brooke answered. "Don't worry about the books; just get the desk and book shelves set up.

"And what are you doing?" Brandon asked. "I don't see you moving furniture."

"I'm setting up my kitchen because if I let you guys do it, I wouldn't be able to find anything."

"Where's your other helper?" Brian asked.

Brooke walked into the kitchen and started unpacking new dishes. "On a plane headed to Maine. Someone's been killing young women and dismembering them."

"And to think you actually wanted that job at one point." Blair sighed.

"I had that job at one point." Brooke said. "I wasn't just chasing international cat burglars you know. I'm actually warming up the idea of teaching people. The University actually wants me to teach there so much that they wouldn't care if I came to class in pajamas like a lot of the students."

"You're a young psychological genius, of course they wouldn't care."

Brooke started loading her dishes into the washer to get rid of dust and anything else that had been living on them while they were in a box. In a corner of the kitchen next to a toaster was a complete spice rack and a stainless steel jar that held tall cooking utensils.

Her cell phone began to ring from its spot at the end of the counter. Brooke reached over and answered it. "You have Brooke, start talking," she spoke wile leaning the iPhone into her shoulder and continued with her unpacking.

"Hey Brooke," Reid said. "I'm sorry about not being able to help."

"I have four strong brothers, the world need the Vegas Knight's great mind. Besides I'm not weak either. Penelope is coming over later to help me with all of the detail oriented stuff. Just make sure you catch the bad guy and put him away."

"Dexter, you are so dead when I get my hands on you," Blair yelled.

"Ignore him Spencer."

"Why do you call me that?"

"What?"

"The Vegas Knight."

"I thought we both agreed a long time ago not to question the origin of a nickname," Brooke said. "Hey, I'm going to make dinner for you and your team when you get back. Penelope suggested it because we apparently had so much fun at New Haven, so let them know."

"Okay."

"Be careful, I'd hate to find out you got shot again."

"Don't pull a muscle while moving large items."

"I know how to move furniture Spencer." Brooke said before hanging up.

She looked up to find her twins looking at her. "What?"

"Are you dating Dexter?" Brian asked.

"No, we always call each other when we arrive in a city that we have a case. Mostly they go to voicemail, but it's just something we've done," Brooke answered slightly confused. "I have to go to the store to get some food and then I have to go feed Mudgie for Uncle Dave. Are you guys okay for a couple hours?"

Blair smiled. "Don't worry about us. Are you making us dinner tonight?"

"If Chinese take-out counts, then yes. Penelope is going to bring some with her tonight."

Brandon came down the stairs, "The least you could do is make us dinner."

"Tomorrow," Brooke stated as she slipped on a pair of flip flops and grabbed her bag. "Neil be good."

"Shut up!"

She left the condo as Neil came down the stairs. She headed down a stairway instead of taking the elevator. It opened into a parking garage and she headed for her designate spot. She unlocked her brother Prius and slid into the front seat.

0o0o0o0

Garcia showed up at six-thirty. Brooke let her into the condo and two immediately began setting up a buffet like atmosphere on the brand new dining room table.

"Thanks for coming."

"Not a problem. I wanted to check out the new digs anyway. Boy genius wouldn't talk about it," Garcia said. "I have my laptop synced up to my system at the BAU so if anything comes up it will let me know."

"You can set it up in the living room or up in the office, but it would be harder to get to it immediately." Brooke said.

"So how did you meet Reid? You just said he saved you from boredom."

Brooke brought over some plates and set them down on the table. "Blair was looking at colleges in Nevada, specifically sin city," Brooke said. "Serena took the two of us there for a college visit. Later Blair and I were wandering around the strip, I got distracted, which really isn't surprising at all. The next thing I know I was left behind.

"I went looking for my brother and I bumped into the one and only Dr. Spencer Reid, literally. He offered to help me find Blair, only to be ditched by him once more when we did find him."

"You have to admit the girl was pretty hot." Blair said walking over. He grabbed a carton of broccoli beef and began pouring some onto a clean white plate.

"Says you," Brooke snorted. She looked at Garcia, "Probably the ugliest girl I've seen. Her attitude was horrible. Anyway, Spencer ended up teaching me how to play poker. We used m&m's as poker chips. He later met my aunt who wasn't too happy there was a boy in my room until she found out that he was a young genius like me. To this day Serena adores Spencer."

"Why?"

"I may not look it, but I struggled socially through school. My aunt wanted me to have friends my own age, but it was hard to be friends with people when you know a whole lot more about the world then they do. When I met Spencer, it was as if I met someone who actually understood how hard it was," Brooke explained. "How much do I owe you for dinner?"

"Take me out next week and we're covered."

Brooke smiled, "Okay." She grabbed some cashew chicken and poured it onto her plate and served herself up a bowl of wonton soup. She planted herself on a breakfast stool and Garcia took the seat next to her. The brothers were sitting in the living room watching a show on monster trucks.

"You already have your cable set up."

"Yeah, I figured I should if the guys were going to help me with the setup of this place."

"Smart move."

0o0o0o0

Later that night Brooke and Garcia were loading books into the eight bookshelves on one side of the room. The other side has a sophisticated office set up complete with dark wood and black leather chair.

"So have you and boy genius ever dated?" Garcia asked.

Brooke gained her signature confused look once more. "No, we've always have been good friends," she said. "You're the second person who's mentioned me dating Spencer."

"Then maybe you should take a hint."

Brooke shook her head. "We're friend Penelope. I've dated friends before, we don't talk anymore. In fact I got engaged to a friend and now he hates me."

"You were engaged."

"Worst mistake of my life," Brooke said. "It last two months and he cheated on me."

"Ouch. So you're afraid of dating a friend now."

Brooke stopped shelving books. "I don't find many people like Spencer. We don't just have our intelligence in common."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you heard the theory that you can't compare the bad experiences of one person the bad experience of the other?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I genuinely believe that Spencer had a childhood that was worse than mine, and he believes that mine was pretty bad."

"I know about his mom, but what about your family?"

"It was probably the worst divorce in the history of man."

"That bad."

"Death threats were exchanged on both sides. I was just finishing my sophomore year of high school when it was finalized."

Garcia looked around. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I'm a better person because of it. If I ever have kids and whoever I end up with wants to get divorced. Then I'll happily sign joint custody papers and be done with it. Obviously if a divorce occurs something happened to affect the marriage and it couldn't be fixed."

"So what's the deal with you and Neil?"

"I love my dad and stepmom, but they run their house like a Nazi dictatorship. At one point in our lives Blair and Brian have been kicked out of that house for minor offenses. Brian lasted the longest though so I guess that says something about is his character," Brooke said. "I didn't really ever worry about it because I was living with Serena."

"So Neil doesn't like the way the house is run."

"I think Neil has the same problem I had in that house. My stepmom dictated the books we read, the clothes we could wear, and the foods we could eat, even when we could hang out. I was given five minutes to get home after school; if I was late I was grounded for a week."

"Wow."

"It was better than my mom's, but not by much."

"Your mom was worse."

"Opposite side of the scale, but too much. She let Blair and I run rampant on the streets of Seattle without once asking where we were going or how long we were going to be gone. I once came home at three in the morning and she never even knew I was missing."

"Three in the morning?"

"I was trying to see how long it would take her to notice I was gone," Brooke answered. "Serena was the balance in my life. She became the mom I needed and when Uncle Dave started visiting and mentoring me, he became like a second dad."

"So, you're Neil's Serena?" Garcia asked.

Brooke nodded. "I want him to feel like he can be himself when he's around me."

"You're a good sister."

"I try to be, I'm the only one he has."

Brooke kicked an empty box away and began working on a new shelf. Garcia helped her and looked over at a large red chair. It looked worn and more used than the rest of the new furniture. On one of the arms rested a decorative blanket.

"What's with the chair and blanket?" she asked.

"It's the chair I would do homework in when I lived with Serena. She let me have it when I moved away. The blanket is something I've had since I was a small child. It's my favorite."

"Is it true you have over six hundred books?" Garcia asked. "If so where are the rest?"

"The rest are in my room. It's roughly two rooms in one so half of it is the continuation of my library."

"Why do you have so many?"

"They're books I've picked up as I've traveled around Europe and Asia. I have old books, new book, big books, small books; sometimes i have the same book in two, three, sometimes four languages."

"Why?"

"I love the power of the written word Penelope, I can't explain it, but I enjoy reading," Brooke answered. "Growing up, Serena would read mystery novels to me, so reading has been a part of my life that has always been there."

Neil came up the stairs. "I set my room up."

"Good. Dad put some of your things in the mail today," Brooke said.

"Callie's still not talking to you is she?" Neil asked.

"Don't worry about it. What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Can you show me around DC?"

"I think we can do that."

Garcia slipped the last book in the shelf. "All finished."

Brooke smiled "Great, thank you so much for your help Penelope."

Garcia's laptop started to beep in the office and she walked over to it. She began typing quickly and pulled out her cell phone.

Brooke pushed Neil towards the stairs. "Come on, I'm sure we can find something to keep us busy while Penelope takes care of business."

"Hey Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"Why does Dr. Reid act so weird?"

"He doesn't act weird, it's who he is."

"You're just as smart as him and you don't act weird."

Brooke laughed. "Give it time," she said. "But in truth, it has to do with Spencer being an only child."

"I don't understand."

"I grew up surrounded by three brothers who let me play with them and their friends. I learned the social skills to make friends and that relates to my personality. Spencer didn't grow up like that. He grew up around old books and numbers."

"So because you have brothers, you know how to talk to people."

"No, but I'm less awkward about it. Talking to people is like a science. You have to look at the person ans see how you should act around them. Like when I talk to you. I'm not worried about trying to impress you because your family, but if I were at a conference I wouldn't act the same way because I would be around people who probably know a lot more about the world of psychology."

Neil nodded. "I think I get it."

"If you get confused, just ask," Brooke smiled. "Why don't you help me make my bed?"

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Chapter five. Wow. I started posting these two days ago. Well the chapters are going to start coming out slower now. I've typed everything up that was once handwritten. I'm going to try and update this once a week like I do with my Rossi fic. So we now have some character depth.

Stuff's going to start happening now. I can't tell you what because it will ruin the surprise of the story, but it's going to be a total blast. Just keep reading and review people. I know a lot of you don't actually want to, but I would really appreciate it if you did.

I'm not sure how you guys feel about the shout out's, but I'm going to continue putting them out there to show my appreciation for reviewer. Even people who favorite my story, so if you want to see your name in a published chapter all you have to do is submit a review of what you thought about the last chapter you read.

Ask questions if anything seems confusing and I will try to answer them as much as possible. Sometimes it can be difficult, but hey, I'm here to please you the reader.

I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and that you keep reading.

Ren


	7. Chapter 6

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Out: This chapter's shout outs go to **__**mangofishy **__**Thank you for your review. **_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Six:

"What do you mean you can't go?" Neil asked.

Brooke came out of her kitchen and set a large salad bowl on the dining room table and looked at her brothers. They had decided that weekly they would have dinner together. Neil sat at the end of the table while her older brothers had taken the sides. Brandon sat by himself. Brooke took her seat next to him.

"I told you, I have to be at the school for registration. I also have to get my syllabus finalized."

"Oh come on, this was the first time the five of us were going on a trip together," Blair said.

"I'm sorry," Brooke said. "But I really don't want to be fired before I even start."

"So you can't come," Brian smiled. "That's okay, we'll take pictures for you."

"Thanks, I really wish I could go with," Brooke said serving herself some mash potatoes and steak. "It's been a long time since I've gone camping."

"Next time," Brandon said as he cut into his meat. "We'll also go earlier in the year so registration doesn't get in the way."

Brooke nodded. "Eat up you guys. I don't want left overs."

"Where's Dexter?" Brian asked.

"He's with Agent Hotchner, they're talking with a serial killer. Hopefully this one doesn't try to kill them."

"hey, do you think he can give Agent Prentiss's phone number to Brandon?" Blair asked.

Brandon began to choke on his food from shock while the rest of the siblings began to laugh.

"Maybe Brandon should as her himself," Brooke stated. "I'm not some sort of middle man."

0o0o0o0

Brooke was sitting in her favorite reading chair quietly scanning the pages of old English prose. Classical music flowed from the speakers of her surround sound system providing simple background noise.

Her iPhone began to ring on the arm and Brooke attention was broken. She looked at the phone to see a picture of mismatched socks. She picked it up and answered it with a small smile. "Speak."

"Hello?" Reid's voice came through the phone.

"Hey, how's the serial rapist case coming?"

"We got the guy. We're about to get dinner, but when we get back to Virginia, it's going to be four in the morning."

"Sounds ugly and unpleasant."

"So what did you do today?" Reid asked.

"I went to the book store. Some new books came out that I needed to get."

"What did you do with Neil?"

"He's off with the older brothers camping."

"That's this week?"

"You're a bad listener," Brooke smiled. "Remember I was going to go as well, but I had to stay to sort out some stuff with the University."

"It's the yearly trip you always go on with your brothers right?" Reid asked. "Last year it was Miami."

"Yeah, camping was decided last year. We always plan a year ahead."

"Do you want to get lunch tomorrow?"

"Only if your buying," Brooke stated as she stood up and slipped a bookmark into the thin pages of her book. She looked over at a wall clock in the office and sighed. "I'm going to get ready for bed. Call me at eleven okay."

"Okay."

Brooke hung up and headed downstairs.

0o0o0o0

Brooke stood in her new office as a feeling of accomplishment overcame her. One of the walls was dedicated to her degrees. Surrounding the framed accomplishments were photos of close family and friends. Her favorite was of a younger David Rossi holding a two-year-old Brooke awkwardly. Another was a photo of Brooke and Spencer after he had defended his dissertation to a committee of scholars. A similar photo hung next to it for when Brooke defended hers. In the background you could barely pick out her godfather talking to her aunt.

She walked over to her desl and sat down. She looked around and smiled. The office had bookshelves filled with scientific journals and textbooks. Next to them shelves was a table that sat four people.

She picked up the two transcripts that sat in front of her. "Why do I need a teaching assistant," she asked herself.

She had to pick one of two equally qualified students. Both of them a year younger than herself.

"I'll ask Uncle Dave and Spencer."

She turned to look at her computer. She scanned her typed up syllabus and made corrections as she read through. She began typing up a simple closing when ther was a knock on her door.

Brooke looked up and smiled, "Just the two I needed to talk to. I need a little help picking a TA, both are well qualified-"

"Brooklyn, this isn't a social visit."Rossi stated.

Brooke looked at the two and found serious looks on their face. She looked at the papers on her desk. "I'm sorry," she said. "What was it that you needed."

"We don't need anything either," Rossi said.

Brooke looked to her friend scanning his face for any hint of what they were doing in her office. "Spencer, what's going on?"

"Your brothers are missing," Reid answered.

"No they aren't. They're camping in the woods. I told you guys this already."

"A forest ranger found their campsite empty. There were signs of a struggle."

Brooke shook her head, "That's impossible. Brandon, Blair, and Brian have all had combat training. They're special forces."

"We think they were taken by a group," Reid said.

"And I'm telling you that my brothers wouldn't let that happen," Brooke stated. "Spencer, you're talking about three ex- military men and a fifteen-year-old who has a black belt in Tai Kwon Do. They know how to protect themselves"

Rossi looked at her. He knew she wouldn't easily believe that somebody was capable of overpowering all four of her brothers. In fact, he hadn't believed it at first. "I called your dad. Hotch called your mom. They're on their way to D.C," he said.

Brooke looked at him as it sunk in. "The BAU is in charge?" she asked.

"We were given the lead because Neil is fifteen and your older brothers aren't easy to take down," Rossi explained.

0o0o0o0

Morgan, Prentiss, and Garcia looked up at Rossi's office. Brooke had locked herself inside the moment she arrived at the academy. Rossi had even given up trying to get inside and was now in Hotch's office talking with him. It had been three hours since they had arrived.

The team didn't know much. Garcia was running names and cross referencing, but that took time and her searches had yet to yield anything of value.

"Is Dr. Taylor okay?" Prentiss asked.

"I heard Hotch and Rossi talking earlier. She's pretty much stopped talking, like she's catatonic." Morgan answered.

Reid dropped his pen and looked at his teammates. He couldn't even make a geographic profile and it bothered him. No data meant no new information.

"Who takes four people?" Prentiss asked.

Brooke suddenly came out of the office and walked over to Reids desk quickly. "You have pictures of the camp site right?"

Reid looked at her in shock. This was a complete turn around for her. After a minute he pulled a stack of photos from a folder and handed them to her. She started to flip through them as she headed up to the conference room. She stopped as she walked up the stairs and looked at the group.

"Are you coming?" she asked.

Reid stood up and he followed the rest of the team to the conference room. Brooke pulled over a couple of white boards and grabbed magnets. She started posting the photos on the boards and looked at them. She pulled a white board marker from her bag.

"What are you doing?" Ried asked.

"Thinking."

"You carry white board markers in your bag?" Prentiss asked.

"I just stuffed it in their while I was at the university. I was working on organizing my syllabus on a white board," Brooke answered.

She looked at the photos and started arranging them in an order that made sense to her. She stood back and looked at them. "They took Brandon out first."

"Why?' Rossi asked while standing by the door. Hotch stood next to him they had seen Brooke rush by and were curious.

"He's the oldest. If they were going to check something out, he would have been the first to leave," she pointed to a photo. "Notice this plate of food pretty much untouched."

The photo was of a table and the plates were in varying degrees of consumption.

"What if Brandon didn't come back?" Hotch asked.

"Brian would be the next to go. He's younger than Blair, but he was aNavy Seal. He would have gone because of his expertise in hand to hand combat," Brooke explained. "Blair and Neil were taken at the campsite."

She pulled off another photo of two sets of prints next to each other but pointing in opposite directions.

"Blair had them stand back to back."

"Never leave your back open to an enemy," Morgan stated.

"Exactly," Brooke said. "Brain probably tried to warn them and that's when they left their food behind and moved to the middle of the camp so they could see in almost a complete circle."

Rossi looked into the bullpen and nodded to someone. "Hurry up Brooke."

Brooke looked at him and automatically understood that they were here. "I think you're looking for two males between the ages of twenty-five to thirty-five. Most likely ex-military special forces, because regular tactics wouldn't work on my brothers," she explained. She looked at her godfather. "Have they started fighting yet?"

Yelling was heard from down in the bullpen. Brooke left the room and leaned against the railing looking into the bullpen. She found three adults in their forties to fifties arguing with each other. The BAU came out and looked at the argument.

"This has got to be your son's fault." A black haired woman stated.

She was looking at a woman in her late fifties with auburn hair and green eyes. "Which one? I have three." She asked snidely.

"Brandon obviously, he has enemies," a man said. He had dark brown hair with shocks of grey and blue eyes.

Brooke gripped the rail and looked at the three. "Mom, dad, Callie," she called, but her words didn't reach them.

"So do Brian and Blair, I don't see you blaiming them," the auburn woman said.

Brooke looked around and spotted an older woman in her sixties standing a couple feet away from the arguing parents. She looked mad enough to tear the three bickering adults apart. Brooke let out a relieved sigh and quickly walked over to the woman.

The older woman had silver hair and piercing blue eyes. She was of medium height and had a portly build.

"Serena, you came too?" Brooke asked.

"David called me. I had a feeling that this would happen so I came to provide support," the woman said while she glared at her companions.

"Thank you," Brooke said. She leaned over and hugged the woman tightly.

The dark haired woman turned towards Brooke when she realized that someone had entered the war zone. She stomped over as Brooke backed up into a filing cabinet. The woman took one of her long manicured fingernails and dug it into Brooke's left shoulder.

"What happened?" the woman asked darkly.

"Callie, that hurts," Brooke grunted clamly.

Morgan tried to help her only to be brushed off by Brooke. He backed off and looked at the two women.

"Where is my son?"

Serena looked at Callie. "She doesn't know Callie."

"Stay out of this," Callie barked.

"Get your hands off my daughter," the auburn woman yelled.

"Mom, I can handle this," Brooke said. "Callie, kindly remove your finger from my shoulder."

"I'll remove my finger when you explain yourself little girl," Callie practically groweled.

"What do I need to explain? How I let your son go off with his brother and my oldest brother on a camping trip without me? It was a camping trip Callie, just a simple trip," Brooke stated. "Call it male bonding or something, the point is I didn't know this was going to happen. Now please remove your finger from my shoulder, it hurts."

"You should have gone with," Callie said digging her nail in farther.

"I'm sorry, okay. I should have gone with, but I had to do something for my job. An actuall job Callie, one that pays me good money and one that required me to stay in the D.C area," Brooke explained. "Now get your finger out of my shoulder!" she yelled pushing the woman away.

Callie looked at the younger woman in shock. Brooke looked at the ground as she rubbed her shoulder.

"I was going to go. However I don't see how that would have helped the situation," Brooke said, "Then all of us would be missing."

The man looked at her and Serena. "How can you two be calm about this?" he asked.

"You think I'm calm?" Brooke asked. "I'm anything but calm. Right now I would love to be calm, but I not. Calm means that everything's okay and it's not."

Rossi walked over and looked at the parents. "Nathan, Callie, Bridget, your sons were taken for a reason. In order to find them we have to figure out why they were taken," he explained. "That can't happen if you guys are blaiming each other."

Serena walked over to her great neice and place a comforting hand on her right shoulder. "Dave, I'm going to borrow your office for a moment," she said as she began leading the younger woman towards the office.

Brooke looked back at her parents. "Please stop fighting. It's been eighteen years, why can't you just get over it?"

Rossi looked at the parents who were looking away in shame. "She's right. At least for right now work together to help find out who took your sons. Afterwards you can go back to hating each other."

"What do you know?" Nathan asked.

"Brooke told us a basic order of events. Your sons were probably taken by someone they know," Hotch answered.

0o0o0o0

Serena had Brooke sit on top of Rossi's desk. She pulled back the neck of her shirt and examined the forming bruise. "It's going to be a bad bruise," she said.

"I figured as much," Brooke winced as her aunt pushed around the injury.

"Everything's going to be okay. They'll find them. Why don't you go home."

Brooke looked at the artwork on Rossi's walls. "Why?"

"Because I said so," Serena said smiling lightly.

Brooke laughed a bit. "You mean, because this is all chaos and you shouldn't be around such childish behavior."

"Yes."

"But you're going to stay."

"I'm not like you Brooke. I know that you want to scream right now. I know that your brothers are going to be okay so I'm not worried," Serena explained. "Besides someone has to help Dave with this mess out there."

There was a knock on the door. Brooke looked at it. "Come in."

Brooke's mother opened the door.

"What do you want mom?" Brooke asked.

"Are you okay."

"It's just a bruise. I'm fine," Brooke said. "What do you need?"

"Brooklyn, I understand how you feel."

Brooke shook her head. "I don't think you do, but I can't argue right now, so can you just leave."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Get out," Brooke said. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Her mother placed her hands on her hips. "No."

"I said get out!" Brooke yelled. "Just. Leave. Me. Alone."

0o0o0o0

Everyone looked up at the office when Brooke yelled. Callie rolled her eyes. "Of course Bridget doesn't know how to listen, once again."

Both Bridget and Serena came out of the office. Bridgett turned quickly on Serena.

"Why do you do that?" Bridget yelled.

"Do what?" Serena asked calmly.

"You are not her mother, I am."

Rossi sighed and the rest of the team looked at him. "Here we go again."

"This is normal?" Morgan asked.

Rossi and Reid nodded. Rossi pinched the bridge of his nose and looked up at his friend.

"Maybe if you hadn't pushed Brooke away she would want to talk to you," Serena said. "But you played favorites." She looked down at Callie and Nathan. "All of you did. You all though Brooke was okay because she was smart. Hey she's a genius, she can take care of herself. She was a kid and you still turned your backs on her. Do you have any idea how isolated she felt. You all moved away. I was the only person she had left in the Bay Area. Do you think that was easy.

"So help me god if I'm going to let you three hurt her again like you did. You do realize that when you came here you didn't even ask about her. You automatically started blaiming each other and Callie you even turned on Brooke. This isn't her fault and I'm not going to let you say it is."

Rossi looked at his friend. Finally what needed to be said had been said. "Nathan, why don't you and Callie check into a hotel," he suggested. "It does you no good to stay here. We'll call you when we get something."

Serena walked over to Reid and pulled him to the side and looked at him. "Hello Spencer. Would you mind taking Brooke home? I'd ask Dave, but he knows the kids better than anyone else here. You're Brooke's friend not Brain and Blairs."

Hotch walked over, "That's a good idea Reid. Brooke was supposed to go on the trip so it's safe to assume that whoever took her brothers was probably after her as well."

"Doesn't that mean we should keep her here?" Morgan asked

"Try keeping her here. If she wants to leave she will and she'll leave you on the ground struggling for air." Rossi said.

Reid nodded and headed for the office. He found Brooke sitting on the ground as she leaned against Rossi's desk. She had her eyes closed and she was sniffling, he cheeks tear stained.

"Brooke?"

She opened her eyes and reached up and rubbed her cheeks. "Spencer, hey," she sniffed. "What's up?"

"I'm taking you home," Reid explained. "Are you okay with that?"

"Do I have a choice?" Brooke asked. She held out her hand and Reid took and pulled her up. "Can we get some cream puffs?"

Reid smiled happy to see a part of the normal Brooke. "Only if you only eat one."

"Spencer, you can't eat just one cream puff," Brooke stated seriously.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: So here is Chapter six. So the next chapter is going to be pretty big. So I hope you look forward to it. I'll be trying to work on it tomorrow so that it will be done and ready to post. It takes mea day to write something out by hand and then another day to get it typed up and ready to post.

I'm also working on chapters for my other story the Death Card so from now on I'm probably going to post on Fridays after this chapter. So you get a week to review. Yay!


	8. Chapter 7

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout out: This chapter's shout out goes to **__**mangofishy**__**. She appears to be the only one reviewing, but hey one review is better than none. I have to say though the updates are going to be weekly from now on. I have two stories I'm working on and college classes as well so the next chapter will be out next Friday. Look for it.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Seven:

Reid sat in a small bakery with Brooke. She was quietly eating a cream puff while looking out the window. Reid was pretty sure that she wasn't actually looking at anything. He knew the look on her face. It was the same look that Gideon would have when he would start to organize a profile in his head.

"Spencer, you're a great guy," Brook said. "You know that right?"

"You tell me all the time," Reid answered. "It makes me wonder if you mean it."

Brooke stood up and took the couple of steps to be right in front of him. She took her right hand and placed it on his cheek. She bent over and kissed him on the cheek before she turned to leave.

Reid looked at her in shock. She turned and smiled at him as she walked out of the bakery. It took him a minute to physically leave the bakery. Mentally he was miles away.

When he got outside he couldn't find her anymore. She had just disappeared. If Rossi found out, Reid wouldn't live to see the age of thirty. His phone rang and he found a text from Brooke.

'Don't worry,' it read. 'You know where to find me.'

Spencer looked at the text message and thought about where in D.C Brooke would go. He flagged down a taxi a minute later and slid in. "Can you take me to the Lincoln Memorial?"

0o0o0o0

Brooke stood on the steps of the Lincoln memorial with a woman. The woman had long black curly hair and black eyes. Her pale skin clashed with her bright red glasses. She was in a pair of black slacks and a white peasent top.

The woman handed Brooke a set of keys. "I'll see you later Brooke."

"Thank you, you know who you're looking for right?"

"Geeky guy with a brown leather messenger bag," the woman smiled. "Go, or he'll get here and see you leaving."

Brooke dropped the keys into her bag and hopped down the stairs lightly. She ran towards a parking lot.

The woman smiled as she took a seat on one of the steps. She looked around and sighed.

Ten minutes later her target came bounding up the steps taking them by twos. She turned and watched him as he looked around the statue of America's sixteenth President. She stood up and walked over.

"Excuse me," the woman said.

Reid turned to look at her. "What?"

"Are you Dr. Reid?"

Spencer nodded, "Who are you?"

"I'm Karrie Takada. We have a mutual friend, Brooky."

"You call her Brooky?"

"She calls me Kar," the woman said while she looked through her purse. "She wanted you to read this." She pulled out a couple sheets of paper and Brooke's cell phone.

"She wrote me a letter?" Reid asked taking both items.

"My expertise lies in world mythology, not human behavior. I don't know why she wrote a letter, but obviously she couldn't say it."

Reid moved to the steps and sat down. He unfolded the yellow sheets of lined paper. Karrie took a seat next to him and looked around once more.

The writing was a light pen and it's simple print flowed across the page.

_Spencer,_

_I know how much you hate when a letter is left in place of a proper explanation of ones actions, but I didn't know what else to do._

_I have only a handful of people I'm able to rely on. Karrie, the one who gave you this letter is one of them. Uncle Dave, Serena, and my brothers are the others. _

_You however, Spencer, there's a special category for someone like you._

_Ten years ago, I found myself lost in a city I wasn't familiar with. I never told anyone how alone I felt surrounded by the tall lit up building and the people walking around minding their own business. It felt like my world was collapsing in on me and there was nothing I could do to stop it. _

_I was about to give up and go back to my hotel room and cry, but you showed up. When you offered to help me find my brother, I couldn't help but ask myself 'Why not?'_

_To say I was shocked when I found a genius my age would be an understatement. That day we became friends because of what we had in common, but we've stayed friends because of our differences._

_I call you The Vegas Knight, because that's exactly what you are. You swoop in to save the day like a medieval knight on his horse. Ten years ago that was what you did. You saved me from being alone once again._

_Do you remember why this memorial is so important to me? Eight years ago I told you that I wanted to stand here and look out at the National Mall. Even sitting here can make a person feel small or lost in its history. I can't even imagine how people felt standing in the crowd as Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream speech, or what it could have been like to be a part of one of the biggest political rallies in the history of America. Can you?_

_I guess this place is so important because it allows me to look around and dream of what could be and what will be. As I think about it, I can't even come up with a place that has ever made me feel like this place has._

_I moved here because I knew that I needed a change. I had somehow lost myself while working with Interpol. I know change isn't spontaneous and it takes time, but moving here was going to speed things up. I wanted to start over and this was how I did it. _

_How does this relate to you? Well seeing you in the airport three weeks ago brought back a bit of what I had lost. That joy of just being able to hang out with a friend. A person who didn't expect much from you. For a moment I became that same person I was before, the person who just liked to hang out with her awkward best friend._

_I didn't apply for the FBI, because it would be the same thing as Interpol. I wanted to be able to get an idea of where I was going. The university job, somehow I knew that was what I needed to do. _

_I'm not at the memorial because I needed to get away to think. I knew that Uncle Dave wouldn't let me be alone, so I planned my escape with Karrie. When you find my brothers, use my phone to call Karrie and she'll tell you where to find me. Whatever you do, don't tell Uncle Dave that I ditched you. He'll worry._

_Thank you for being my Vegas Knight Spencer. I can't tell you how much it means to me._

_Brooke_

Spencer looked up from the letter and looked at Karrie. "Why didn't she just say all of this to me at the bakery?"

"This is Brooke we're talking about," Kerrie stated. "She's always been better at expressing her feelings on paper than in person. She may look confident and strong, but she's still that same little girl who would run away the minute people started fighting in front of her. The only difference between little Brooke and adult Brooke is her ability to handle it.

"She called me a few hours ago and explained it all to me. Together we put together her escape plan and she began to write that letter. She told me to give it to you."

"Is she okay?"

"She's in a safe place, if that's what you mean. I'm the only one who knows where she is hiding. Like the letter said, when you find out what happened to her brothers, I'll tell you where to find her," she explained aas she stood up and started walking down the stairs. She stopped for a moment and looked back at him.

"Dr. Reid, something she failed to mention in that letter was how much she loves you and how much it meant to her that you made the time to have her in your life," she said before continuing down the stairs.

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat in an expertly decorated office. It had a Fall color scheme of warm browns, oranges, and reds. She sat on a comfortable brown couch looking at a magazine. Kerrie came in holding Mexican take out.

Brooke sighed and looked at her friend. "How mad was he?"

"I think he's more confused."

"You know as I sat writing that letter in Uncle Dave's office, I started to think it had the feel of a suicide note until I got to the end."

"Well when I read it, it pulled at my heartstrings. I think you got your point across. You said it's been hard to talk to Dr. Reid lately. I just don't see why you can't look at the guy and tell him you love him, and be over with the whole mess."

Brooke let out another sigh and grebbed a container of chili verde. "It's complicated. I can't talk about it with Uncle Dave because Spencer's on his team and obviously I can't talk to Spencer about it."

"Honey that's where I come in. You come to me with matters of the heart," Kerrie smiled. "You're godfather's there to advise you on life matters. Dr. Reid is the guy you go to for everything else. That's the way it's always been."

Brooke shook her head and cut into her food. "How the hell did we become friends?"

"We're friends by accident. You came in to lecture my English professor on his interpretation of Beowulf. Later I came to thank you for leaving him completely speechless."

"For an English scholar, he knew little about Beowulf and the history behind the Epic," Brooke said.

"We all can't have thebest English Professor. You submitted your dissertation didn't you?"

Brooke nodded. "Last month. I have to defend it in October."

"Great," Kerrie said taking a bite of chicken fajita. "So, when did you realize you had fallen in love with your best friend?"

Brooke swallowed her food and looked at Kerrie before leaning back into the couch. "In the Bible it says that God loved the world so much that he gave his only son Jesus to it. Jesus was sent to die. When I saw that I realized that love is an action. It's the ability to be selfless and give up everything for someone," Brooke explained. "Even for me, an expert on emotions, my feelings are hard to decipher. One day I was talking with Serena and I came to the realization that I would give up everything if it meant Spencer wouldn't get hurt. It was then I knew I had fallen in love."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, I don't know?"

Brooke leaned forwards once again and started to eat. "Like I said Kerrie it's complicated. He's my friend, my confidant, my other half. I can't lose that."

"So you're afraid?"

Brooke looked at her food "Yes."

0o0o0o0

Spencer sat in his apartment. An hour ago he had lied to his boss for his best friend. He knew he was in trouble if Hotch found out. He held the letter that she ahd written him. He hadn't stopped thinking about it.

It was true they had a lot in common, but it was their differences that stood out. Brooke was easily the other half of the puzzle that was Spencer Reid. She was confident and friendly, and he was the closed off and often times odd one out.

He had always talking with her. He was almost excited at the idea of her reading the same books his mother had read to him as a child.

He remembered a lot of the things he had sone with Brooke. He remembered one incident in particular.

_-Eight Years Ago-_

"_Spencer, you have to go on at least one ride." Brooke asked as the two of them walked down the boardwalk in Santa Cruz._

"_Why?"_

"_Because they're exciting. Have you ever felt the rush of the air passing through your hair and push into your skin? The screams complete the entire feeling. Can you think of something more exciting?"_

"_Technically the rush you feel is the release of adrenaline because your body thinks you need it."_

_Brooke frowned. "You're no fun." She quickly grabbed his hand and started running towards the Giant Dipper._

"_What are you doing?" Spencer asked._

"_No complaining, it's just one ride."_

"_It's made of wood. It's been here longer than the two of us put together. Do you have any idea what the sea weather can do to wood?"_

"_Relax, they do maintenance all the time on this ride to keep it in tip top condition. It's perfectly safe."_

"_The Giant Dipper was made in 1924, that means it's been taking seventy-eight years of sea and possibly termite damage."_

_Brooked lightly pushed him into the line in front of her. She placed her hands on her hip and looked at him. "Spencer Reid, I've been on this ride a hundred times, we're not going to die in some freak roller coaster accident. Now patiently wait in line and enjoy the ride."_

A year later he had joined the FBI and Brooke was finishing her dissertation. She was pulled into Interpol when she had finally received her degree. She then started on working on an English dissertation.

When Karrie told him that his best friend was in love with him, he felt happy. What bothered him was whether he felt the same way.

There was a knock on his door and the young doctor looked at the door in confusion.

"Open up Reid, I know Brooke's not with you," Morgan's voice came from the other side.

Reid stood up and walked over to the door. He opened it and looked at the older teammate. "How did you know?"

"Hotch told me. Why did you lie to him?"

"She told me not to tell anyone." Reid said. "I'm supposed to call her friend when we find her brothers.

"So you have no clue where Brooke is?"

"She with her friend Karrie, that's all I know."

"Okay, then let's find her brothers." Morgan said.

"You're not mad?"

"There isn't much we can do if she found a way to lose you."

"What about Hotch?"

"He's another story."

0o0o0o0

Brooke was walking back to Karrie's office from the bathroom. She opened the door with a smile. "Hey Karrie, do you remember that one time the two of us were in New-" she stopped and looked at her friend lying on the ground blood coming from her forehead. Brooke ran over and crouched on the ground.

"Karrie!" she turned over her friend and checked to make sure she was still breathing. She stood up and rushed over to the phone and dialed 911.

A man came from the closet and hit her on the head with the butt of his gun. He picked her up draped her over his shoulder and left the office.

0o0o0o0

Reid sat in the conference room when he felt Brooke's phone began to ring. He pulled it out and saw Karrie's name and saw a picture of a shoe with wings attached. He answered it.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Reid, someone took her." Karrie's voice came through the phone

"What?"

"Dr. Reid, focus. Someone took Brooke from my office." Karrie said.

"Brooke's missing?"

Morgan looked over. "What?"

"Karrie, where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital. Two men came into my office," Karrie said. "No one knew she was at my office. I was supposed to still be in Korea, but I came back early because I finished my work there."

"How do you know she was taken?"

"She called 911 but when the emergency responders came she was gone and there was blood on the floor near my desk. I was on the other end of the room,"

"So Brooke wasn't anywhere else?"

"Why would she just leave?" Karrie asked. "Dr. Reid, you have to find her."

Reid hung up a minute later and looked at Morgan. "They found Brooke, and they took her."

"How, you said no one knew where she was."

Rossi came in to the room and looked at the two younger agents. "What's going on?"

"They've been following Brooke." Morgan said. "She was taken from her friends office at the Smithsonian."

"What?"

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well here is Chapter Seven. I hope you enjoy the beginning of a very interesting arc. The next chapter is going to be juicy and you're really going to want to sink your teeth into it. It will involve many things. Who took Brooke and her brothers? Why did they take them? How does our young doctor feel about Brooke? Will a relationship bloom or are the two geniuses doomed to remain friends?

I can't guarantee and answer to all of these questions, but you won't find out until the next chapter comes out next week. I may be convinced to write more faster if people review. Anyway I hope to see more reviews. Negative or positive.

Ren


	9. Chapter 8

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: This weeks shout outs go to **__**mangofishy**__**, **__**ally leigh**__**, and **__**andnowforsomethingdifferent**__**. Thank you for your kind reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter. **_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Eight:

Reid sat in the conference room looking at a map. He now had two points to look at for his geographic profile, but it didn't help. Whoever took the siblings went out of their way to get Brooke and her brothers. Meaning all five of them were targeted. Garcia was running through all of their lives, while Kevin was looking at street camera's trying to find out who was following Brooke.

Serena came in and looked at the map. "It's not going to show you anything new Spencer."

"This is all we have," Reid said.

"I disagree."

Reid looked at the older woman. Serena walked over and took a seat.

"I'm not a profiler like you or Dave, but I do know enough to see the Brooke and her brothers were taken by someone close to them."

"We know that," Reid stated quickly.

"I'm not done yet," Serena said crossing her arms. "There aren't many instances where all five of the siblings are together. I would focus on said instances."

"Why?"

"I may be wrong, but it looks to me like this is related to the bond that the five of them share. Brandon and Neil may not be related, yet Brandon continually gives Neil advice on baseball. The triplets are as close as siblings can be. The twins especially. Blair and Brian have always worked together to protect their younger sister. Growing up they would insist on going to the mall with her so that nothing bad would happen.

Brooke and Neil are extremely close. She's been his personal tutor since he was a little boy, but at the same time, she's his confidant. He tells her everything. They talked to each other every other day up until he ran away to come live with her.

"The point is Spencer, those kids aren't just siblings. They're the other sibling's support structure," Serena explained. "So whoever took them has probably formed a connection to that bong."

Rossi came in. "How is the geographic profile coming Reid?" he asked harshly.

"Leave the poor boy alone Dave," Serena scolded.

"He let Brooke get away from him."

"And you were thinking she wouldn't try and get away from someone babysitting her?" Serena stated.

"We don't have any more new information. How is any of that comforting. It's almost to the twenty-four hour mark."

"Your team's the best Dave," Serena reassured. "You'll find them."

0o0o0o0

Brook felt a wet towel on her forehead as she slowly came too. She let out a small moan and tried to open her eyes.

"She's waking up," Neil's voice broke through her foggy brain.

She felt a big hand land on her shoulder and start to shake her. "Brooke, come on, you need to wake up."

"My head hurts," she stated.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked at the tall ceiling. Blair and Brian's faces came into her line of sight. She turned her head to look around and found Neil and Brandon kneeling beside her. "Where am I?" she asked.

"Wish we could tell you," Brian answered and he helped her up.

A wave of dizziness passed through her and she buried her head between her knees. After a minute she lifted her head up and looked around. The five of them were in a massive warehouse. They were surrounded by three walls of metal bars which prevented them from moving around except for in a small ten by ten make shift room. The fourth wall was made of brick and opened up into a small bathroom with a sink and toilet.

"Are we in a cage?" Brooke asked.

"Yep," Neil popped the 'p' and leaned back on his hands.

Blair dabbed the wet towel against Brooke's head wound and she backed away in pain. "Did you know that Zack has officially gone crazy?" he asked.

Brooke looked at him. "Zack did this?"

"He and his sister grabbed us at the campsite." Brian said.

"I told you, I told you that Zack was no longer in possession of his faculties," Brooke stated. "You know he never was completely sane, but still I had clung to the idea that he was trying to be a productive member of society.

"We know," the twins stated.

"Was it Zack that hit me in the head?" Brooke asked.

"Looks like it," Blair answered.

"That rotten bastard!" Brooke yelled.

The warehouse door in front of them opened and a woman in her early twenties walked in holding a couple of bags. She dropped the bags on a metal table and sat on a wooden bar stool. Brooke looked at the young woman and the frown on her face grew.

"Zoe, you need to let us go," Brian said standing up.

The woman looked over. She had long curly black hair and black eyes. She was dressed in a black hoodie and black cargo pants. "You know I can't do that. Zack had the key."

"So if you had the key, you would let us go?" Neil asked hopefully.

Brooke shook her head and studied the young woman. "How long has it been Zoe?" she asked.

Zoe looked at Brooke. "Christmas, two years ago," she answered. "You stopped calling after that."

Brooke turned her gaze to the ground and clenched her fists. "I'm sorry, my job got in the way. I never meant to hurt you or your brother."

Zoe stood up as rage crossed her face. "Then why did you!" she yelled.

Brooke flinched. "It's complicated."

"You broke our hearts."

Brooke looked at the woman and sighed. It wasn't going to be a fight she could win, but she wasn't actually in the mood to listen to her logical self. "Did you ever think that is was Zack that broke my heart? He pushed me away Zoe. That's not something I take very well. I tried to talk to him, he never answered me, and so I stopped trying."

"That's not an excuse," Zoe said.

Brooke sighed. "I know it's not, it's an explanation."

Zoe pulled out a knife and pointed it at Brooke. "Shut up."

0o0o0o0

The BAU team sat in the conference room each one looking at an iPad looking at a facebook page.

"Why does Brooke have two facebook pages?" Prentiss asked.

"One's a fan page for her books," Rossi answered while tapping on a photo of Neil.

"She writes mystery novels right?" Morgan asked.

Rossi nodded.

Hotch stopped on a picture on Brandon's page. It was of Brooke hugging a tall black haired man. He had black eyes and was dressed in a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. "I saw this guy before, but it didn't look like he and Brooke were that close," he said as he handed the tablet to the senior agent.

"That's Zack. He and Brooke haven't talked for a while."

Garcia looked up from Blair's photo album. "Why?"

Reid continued looking through photos of Brian's page. "He tried to kill himself six years ago over a girl. Brooke didn't really like the person to begin with and Zack started screaming at her and finally stopped talking to the siblings all together."

He stopped on a picture of the five with Zack and his younger sister. "That's odd," he said.

He slipped the tablet to the center of the table. "Brooke's not in the middle," Rossi observed.

The photo was in an indoor setting. Brooke was standing on the outside of the group while Zack and his sister were on the other side. While everyone else had large smiles, Brooke's was forced and her eyes were distant.

"Maybe it was Zack that formed a bond," Morgan said. "But when Brooke stopped talking to him, it caused a shift in the relationship and a break in the bond."

"Brooke told me that Zack and his sister were repeatedly abused by their mom. She became friends with him through a school program Blair was in," Rossi explained. "Her mom started to ignore the kids and started nurturing Zack and his sister."

Serena stood by the doorway. "Brooke called them Broken Birds," she said. "Her mom created a large nest for them, so they never left. Brooke helped them establish friendships, but after Zack tried to kill himself she became depressed. She lost faith in her work and everything she had been working on. All of the siblings did, but it hurt Brooke the most. Zack and Zoe were family, but like everyone they changed. It wasn't a good change though. Brooke saw it and she stopped taking Neil with her to event with Zack."

"But that was all five years ago?"

"It was more like two, she still saw them. Neil ended up attending a Christmas party with them a couple years ago."

Garcia was typing on a laptop. "Zack Conners has two half-brothers. They were put into the foster system last month and promptly adopted. Zack and his sister Zoe petitioned for visitation, but it was denied to mental instability that could pose a risk to the younger boys."

"How so?"

"Zoe has Asperger's syndrome. It wasn't properly dealt with as a child, so she can have bouts of violence," Rossi said. "Brooke talked about it a lot as we were working on her dissertation."

"What about Zack."

"Zack has a really big temper, he only knows how to deal with a problem with violence," Serena said. "I believe losing their real brothers can be considered a stressor." She left the room and walked back to Rossi's office.

"So they're taking back the family they once had," Hotch said. "It makes sense."

"See if you can find a current address or workplace for Zack and Zoe Conners," Rossi told Garcia.

Brooke was now leaning against the brick wall. For the time being her head had stopped bleeding, but the pounding hadn't ceased and she was drifting in and out of awareness. Her brothers watched her warily and Neil finally walked over and sat by her.

"Brooke?" he asked.

"What is it Neil?"

The door to the warehouse opened and Zack came in. He was dressed similarly to Zoe and he leaned against the table and looked at his captives. Brooke opened her eyes a bit and looked at him.

"You gave me a concussion," she stated.

Zack looked at her and smiled slightly. "I'm sorry; it was the only way to get you here."

"You hurt my friend."

"You're my sister and you hurt me."

Blair walked over and wrapped his hands around the bars. "Zack, you need to let Brooke go. Concussions can be pretty serious. She needs a CAT-scan."

Zoe looked over and swung her legs back and forth. "Brooke's okay, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm just peachy." Brooke retorted. "It's just that my head hurts, my visions blurry, and there is blood coming out of my head. I'm fine."

Zoe's smile grew. "See, she's fine."

Brooke sighed. "Unbelievable."

"Brooke take it easy." Brian said.

"You know the FBI is looking for us?" she asked.

Zoe laughed. "They won't be able to find us."

"You're wrong," Neil said.

Zack looked at the teacher. "What do you mean?" a smirk pulled at his lips.

"He means that the team looking for us isn't a normal team." Brooke said.

"Uncle Dave's team is looking for us. They're a bunch of geniuses. A case like yours is a warm up compared to some of the other cases they see," Neil stated proudly.

"David Rossi is the best criminal profiler I know," Brandon said crossing his arms. "If he's working on this case, it's only a matter of time before they find out we're here."

"They have Dr. Reid too," Blair said.

"They're not going to listen to you," Brooke told her brothers.

"What's a profiler?"

"I'm a profiler Zoe," Brook answered. "I worked for the police and help them catch criminals by profiling."

"It's a fancy word for a psychologist." Zack said.

"Please, there's more to it than that," Brooke said. "Don't you dare insult my job."

"Brooke we used to be so close," Zack pushed himself off the table. "What changed?"

"How about your general lack of concern when it comes to human emotions. Maybe it's your fascination with dead things that caused me to back away. Those four failed attempts at suicide just really pushed me over the edge."

"Then why did we stay friends."

"We haven't been friends for a long time. My mom kept you around because she didn't want to deal with her own children. Also she had the hots for your dad. You were the one that ditched me for Sandra," Brooke explained. "That was eleven years ago. We only saw each other when our friends would invite us to some event. You were the one who got Sandra pregnant, not me."

"Don't talk about her!" Zack yelled.

Brooke smirked, "How is your daughter. That's right, you don't know because you lost custody eight years ago after you beat her mother and put her in a coma."

Zack lunged towards the cell and Brandon moved in front of Brooke protectively. Brian moved to look at Zack.

"She has a concussion, she's irritated because she has a really bad headache," he explained. "You need to let us go so we can take her to the hospital."

Zack straightened and gave them all a steely glare. "No you're all staying here."

0o0o0o0

The BAU drove up to a warehouse district of Baltimore, Maryland. Garcia had found a rental agreement under the name of Zack's younger brother.

"SWAT will be meetings us at the warehouse. We are going to try and get a read on any heat signatures." Hotch said.

They pulled to a screeching stop in front of a tall metal warehouse.

0o0o0o0

"This is ridiculous," Brandon said. "You actually think that Brooke was herself when she was around you. She knows people. She reads them like a book and you think that was her normally. That quiet, shy, woman who never told people how she felt. She was only herself when she wasn't around you."

Neil looked around and saw two black objects come flying through a couple windows. He covered his ears and buried his face in his knees as they landed on the ground. Brandon, Brian, and Blair dove to the ground out of habit and covered their faces.

A loud bang erupted in the warehouse and it was accompanied by a large flash. Brooke began to cough and crawled into the bathroom. She made it to the toilet in time to throw up. She felt someone pull her hair away from her face and rub her back.

"What the hell was that?" she heaved.

She looked up to find Neil looking at her worried. "The BAU's here," he said. "Are you okay?"

"I can't hear you," she said as she leaned against the counter. "I don't feel so good." She closed her eyes and moaned.

"Hey, you aren't supposed to fall asleep when you have a head injury," Neil started to shake his older sister.

Rossi came into the room and crouched down in front of her. Neil moved away and watched him shake her shoulder.

"She can't hear," Neil said. "Zack hit her on the head."

Rossi shouted for a medic. He moved her bloody bangs out of the way to look at the impression on her forehead. "What did he hit her with, a bat?"

"A really big gun."

Paramedics came into the bathroom and pushed Neil and Rossi out of the room. One medic pulled out a pen light and opened Brooke's eye. "She's non-responsive. We need to get her to the hospital," the medic said.

The two emergency responders loaded Brooke onto a stretcher and started pushing her towards the exit. Reid was pushed out of the way as they left the building. Neil came running after. He reached forwards onto the stretcher and grabbed Brooke's hand.

"Brooke, wake up."

Morgan was busy trying to pin Zack to the ground. "Sister!" he screamed.

"Shut up," Morgan stated planting his knee into Zack's back.

Hotch had Zoe in handcuff's but she was jumping around trying to get him to let her go. Brian and Blair walked over to Reid. Brandon moved to talk to Rossi.

"You're team really is the best." Blair said. "Thanks Dexter."

0o0o0o0

Author's note: So the BAU has found our five siblings and now we have to find out how Reid truly feels about Brooke. Well the next chapter will be focusing on that relationship. Anyway, you all know what's next. I'm going to ever so kindly ask you to review and tell me what you think about this chapter. It's been shown that Brooke show's some really bitter feelings towards her mother. So I'll be developing that a bit as well as the relationship she has with her dad and stepmom.

So anyway, review. I hope to see some good ones, but if there is somewhere I can improve, then let me know.


	10. Chapter 9

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: So this weeks shout outs go to **__**mangofishy**__** and **__**ally leigh**__**. As a note, after looking over my last chapter I find ally leigh to be right, in that the chapter wasn't as tense as it could be and I really wish I had worked on it a bit more. I wasn't sure how to end it and so it was left as it is. Perhaps one day I will try and fix it, but at the moment it will stay as it is. Thank you mangofishy, for your very nice reviews. It's nice to know that people out there like this story.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Nine:

The BAU sat in a private waiting room of a Baltimore Hospital. Neil came in with his parents. They were followed by Serena, Bridget, the twins, and Brandon.

"How's Brooklyn?" Rossi asked.

"She's awake," Serena answered. "The concussion isn't too bad. She's going to be kept overnight though. She's irritated, but knows she can't fight it."

"Can we see her?" Reid asked hopefully.

Bridget's face contorted in anger. "She refuses to see anyone except her brothers and Serena."

"Dave," Serena looked at him. "She's told me she wants you to take her statement, and only you."

Rossi nodded and noticed Reid's downcast look. Serena seemed to notice it too.

"Spencer, I need to ask you some questions," Serena said. "Will you come with me to the cafeteria to get some coffee?"

Reid looked at her and after he got a nod of approval from Hotch, he followed Serena out of the room. The remaining members of his team moved to talk to the four brothers. Rossi pulled Neil to a corner and sat him down in a chair.

"What happened at the camp site?" he asked.

Neil looked at the ground. "We were eating breakfast and we heard a gunshot. Brandon went to check it out, because it didn't sound like a shot gun. He kind of knows that stuff. Also hunting wasn't allowed in the camping area. I think ten minutes passed and he still hadn't returned, so Brian went to see if he was okay," Neil explained. "Blair had us stand back to back after five minutes. I don't remember what happened after that, but I woke up later in the cage."

"What else?"

"Zack and Zoe were there. They said the collection wasn't complete. They gave us food and everything, but they never really spoke to us until Brooke was there."

"They didn't talk to you at all?'

Neil shook his head.

0o0o0o0

Reid sat at a small table with coffee; he started emptying several sugar packets into the cup. Serena grabbed four packets of artificial sweetener and poured them into her small coffee cup.

"Are you mad at Brooke?"

"No," Reid answered.

"You know I saw the letter. It was on your desk. From what I hear, you hate getting letters."

"She's coming back. Gideon and my dad didn't."

"She still left."

"Are you telling me that I should be mad?"

"I'm just curious," Serena said. "You got upset when I said Dave was the only agent allowed to talk with Brooke."

"I'm her friend. I can talk to her," Reid said. "She's not telling me anything now."

"Why do you think that is?" Serena asked. "How can you profile it?"

"Something happened to change the relationship," Reid answered.

Serena took a sip of her coffee and looked the young genius right in the eye. "What do you like about Brooke?"

0o0o0o0

Rossi walked into a hospital room to find Brooke sitting on a bed. She had her knees bent and had set a book on them. She was flipping through the pages quickly, but didn't actually seem to be paying attention. Her messenger bag sat on the end of the bed. She looked up after her godfather cleared his throat.

"Come to take my statement have we?" she asked.

"Serena brought your bag."

"Kerrie gave it to her to give to me."

"Do you want to tell me what's going on between you and Reid?"

Brooke looked away from him. "Not particularly."

"All right, what happened at the Smithsonian?"

Brooke smiled and shook her head. "It was really great. You see I was in a one on one fight with Al Capone, and I got to fly Amelia Earhart's plane!" she stated in mock excitement.

"Brooklyn," Rossi growled.

"Touchy, touchy. I was just hanging out in Kerrie's office. I left to use the bathroom. When I got back, Kerrie was on the ground unconscious. I dialed nine-one-one, and then lights out."

"We think Zack grabbed you and your brothers after he was denied visitation with his younger brothers."

"Fantastic!" Brooke stated.

"What kind of pain killers did they give you?"

"Enough."

Rossi smiled. "Do you need anything?"

Brooke looked around and held up a hand to her mouth. "I could use some decent food," she said in a stage whisper.

"Always making light of a situation I see."

"Why not? Zack was nuts I established this years ago. You caught him. I only have a minor concussion which to be honest is better than the time I was in Israel and got shrapnel in my abdomen. I know what the job is and I know it involves people who aren't completely there," Brooke said. "What about Neil? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. No injuries."

Brooke sighed. "I need to talk to my dad and Callie, they're going to want to take him back to Orange," she shivered and curled her lip back. "What a horrible place to live."

Rossi nodded and looked at her. "Not everyone can live in places like England and visit places like France and Liberia," he said before leaving the room.

Brooke shook her head in amusement and sighed. She closed her book and set it down next to her and looked out the window.

0o0o0o0

Serena looked at Reid waiting for him to answer. "Well?"

"She's my friend," Reid answered.

"That's not what I asked," Serena sighed. "What do you like about her?"

Reid moved his cup around nervously. "I don't know," he said. "She understands what it means to grow up and be smarter than everyone else your age. She likes science fiction like me. She's read all of the books my mother used to read to me. I like it when she sends me an old book she's found, even though she knows I've already read it."

"What else?"

"When we were in college, and I would come to visit you two in the bay area, she would always have this wild look about her. Her bangs would be pushed to the side because they had gotten too long. Occasionally a few strands would fall in her face and she would get irritated.

"When she took me to the San Francisco Pier, she insisted I buy a seashell that looked just like hers. It still sits on one of my shelves.

"When she came back from England, I noticed that her voice had this softer more gentle tone. It was like she had never grown up in the United States.

"I liked waking her up when she was staying at my house. She would have this tired childlike face," Reid finished.

Serena smiled happy with his answer. "You should probably tell her all of that."

"She doesn't want to see me."

"You're going to let that stop you?" Serena asked standing up. "I've overestimated you Dr. Reid." She walked quietly out of the cafeteria leaving the young doctor to his thoughts.

0o0o0o0

Reid was walking to Brooke's room and stopped just outside the door when he heard her stepmom talking.

"He comes to live with you and look what happens," Callie stated.

"That was a pure fluke. It wasn't supposed to happen," Blair's voice came from farther in the room.

"Dad, Callie. Neil wasn't happy in L.A. He just wanted to be somewhere, where he can be himself," Brooke said.

"He was happy," Callie argued.

"And I'm telling you he wasn't. You two are always busy doing something else. Dad's always working, and you're always working on the small business you manage. Here he would get the attention he needs," Brooke said.

"No," her father spoke. "He will continue to live with us."

"Look I don't mean to sound rude, but living with you two is a difficult thing to do. I couldn't do it; Blair couldn't and at one point Brian moved out too. Besides the schools in the D.C area are a lot better than the ones in Orange County. I can help him with his schooling as well. Do you know how hard it is to teach someone math through the phone?"

"Why should we let him live with you?" Callie asked.

"Because he has family here. Uncle Dave works in Quantico, Blair has the security company, Brian has the bar," Brooke said. "I'm going to be teaching at a university. Ask Neil what he wants. Maybe it's time you actually listen to your children."

There was a long pause.

"I'm feeling a bit tired, can you all please just leave?" Brooke asked.

Reid moved away from the door when he heard people moving towards the door. He made his way towards the exit as Callie and Nathan came out of the room followed by Blair.

0o0o0o0

Three days later Reid stood outside of Brooke's front door. He knocked on the door and Blair answered it. "Hey Dexter, Brooke's in the shower, but you can come in and wait for her," he said. "Is she expecting you?"

Reid walked in and shook his head. He found Neil sitting at the dining room table flipping through a packet of printed pages while simultaneously flipping through The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

Brian walked over from the living room to greet Reid. "Neil has to get the summer reading assignment done for his new school," he explained.

"He's staying in D.C?" Reid asked.

"I told my mom that I would run away again," Neil said looking up.

"Have a seat," Blair said gesturing around.

Reid looked into the living room and found the three older brothers playing Call of Duty. He decided to take a seat across from Neil at the table. He tried reading the packet upside down and found it contained plot analysis, theme notes, and character development questions.

Ten minutes later Brooke came up her flight of stair in pair of checkered green pajama shorts and a neon green tank top. She had left her glasses in her room. Her bangs had begun to grow out and just brushed her eyelids.

"Is there a reason you insist on playing video games in my house?" she asked brushing her slightly damp hair out.

"You have a bigger TV," Brandon answered not looking away from the screen. "Dexter's here."

Brooke's eyes widened and she turned to look at her best friend. "How did you get in the building?" she asked.

"You gave me a spare key, just in case you locked yourself out," he answered as he stood up.

Brooke bit her lip and looked away. "Right, so what brings you to my humble abode?"

Reid shifted awkwardly as all four of Brooke's brothers watched the two of them. Brooked started to mess with her hands. "I didn't catch you before you left the hospital."

"You know I hate them. I got out of there as soon as possible. Let's go talk in my room."

Brooke headed back down the stairs and Reid followed her. Neil stood up and tried to sneak down the stairs with them when Brian paused the game and grabbed him by the back of the shirt.

"Leave it alone Neil."

"Why was Brooke acting so weird?" Neil asked.

"Don't know," Brian answered.

"She hasn't spoken to anyone in the BAU since she got out of the hospital. Serena has been passing messages along to Uncle Dave. Don't worry about it," Blair said.

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat in a tan chair surrounded by book shelves. The room was divided in two and the second half of the room had a king size bed with a dark wood headboard that had built in shelves. Across from it was a large wardrobe that opened to reveal a large TV and stereo system.

The bed had been made with a dark brown quilt and tan sheets. It was adorned with decorative pillows in varying shades of brown.

A door led to a large bathroom and walk in closet. The bathroom had a shower and tub with his and hers sinks. The walk in closet was set under the stairs.

As Reid looked around he caught the scent of pomegranate coming from Brooke's bathroom and he was reminded of hi guest room. "Your room looks nice."

Brooke looked around. "It's still a work in progress. I have to get some photo's up on the wall."

"How are you?" Reid asked.

"I really wish people would stop asking me that," Brooke said. She reached up and touched her stitches. "I just can't believe Zack did all of this."

"Why did you only allow Rossi into your room at the hospital?" Reid asked.

Brooke looked at a bookshelf to avoid looking at Reid. "I just wanted to be with family."

"Why are you lying?"

"Spencer-"

"Why have you stopped talking to me?" he interrupted.

"I'm sorry. I just," Brooke looked at the ground in shame.

"What's going on?"

"Spencer, it's complicated."

"Explain it to me. You run off, leaving a letter with your friend, and now you won't talk to me," Reid said. "I thought we were friends."

Brooke looked at him. "We are, Spencer you are the greatest friend I've ever had. It's just-"

"What?" Reid asked realizing it came out harsher than he had intended. "Just what?"

Brooke stood up and walked over to Reid. She placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled him into a kiss. A second later she pushed him away wide eyed.

"Oh my god, why did I just do that?" Brooke asked herself.

She backed away quickly and headed for the stairs muttering to herself. Reid turned quickly and followed her, determined to get some sort of explanation from her. Brooke ran out the front door and Reid followed just squeezing through the door as it was closing.

Neil looked over at the door. "What's going on?"

"Brooke's running," Brandon said. "Dexter was chasing her."

"Why?"

"When it comes to those two together its better not to ask question and just assume that it has to do with something that we as people of average intelligence won't understand," Blair said.

"Finish your summer homework," Brian said. "She doesn't need a spectator."

0o0o0o0

Reid followed Brooke into the central courtyard of the building. "Brooklyn!" he called, using her full name for the first time in years.

Brooke turned to him. "What?"

"Why did you kiss me?"

Brooke laughed slightly. "I'm pretty sure that was the most obvious things I've done since I moved to D.C." She stomped over to a concrete bench that rested on the edge of a large patch of grass.

"Brooke, what's going on?"

Brooke buried her face in her hands and moaned. "Spencer, I can't do this. I can't lose my best friend."

"What are you talking about?" Reid asked getting really confused.

Brooke looked at him. "You are the most oblivious guy on the face of the planet. I like you Spencer, and not like a friend okay?" she explained. She had begun to cry.

Reid walked over to her. "Really?"

"I stopped talking to you because I've been trying to figure all of this," she waved her hands around. "Is."

Reid sat down next to her and looked at the courtyard dimly lit pathways. "Have you figured it out?"

Brooke laughed again. "Please, this is me we're talking about. I can decipher any little emotion in another person, but when it comes to my emotion's I'm a total dunce. It takes me a month to figure things out on an emotional level."

Brooke looked at the sky hoping to find some stars. "At least I could see the stars in England."

"D.C's too bright." Reid said.

"Are we actually going to talk about this?" Brooke asked.

The two sat in an awkward silence. Both of them trying to find something other than the person sitting next to them to look at. After five minutes of silence Brooke stood up and walked a couple steps away.

"See this is why I abhor feelings like this," she exclaimed.

Reid looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"I hate it when I start to have feeling for a friend. It ruins everything, but do I learn? Of course not. I haven't once spoken to the friends I have dated since I broke up with them," Brooke said. "Spencer, you're my best friend. The best of the best and I can't lose that."

"So, if we were to have a relationship and we broke up. You're saying you would stop talking to me," Reid said.

"Well… maybe, but I can't risk that," Brooke stated. "You're the only one who understands what it's like growing up, but somehow being your friend is no longer enough."

Brooked turned away and crossed her arms.

Reid looked at her and tried to think of something to say. "My guest room still smells like your lotion and perfume," he said. "It's the same as your body wash right?"

Brooke looked at him confused for a moment. "You scent in layers. If everything is the same you don't have to put so much perfume on later. That way it's not overpowering."

"I like it."

"Thank you," Brooke smiled and wiped away some of her tears.

"I came here to tell you how I feel," Reid said. "You're aunts really good at getting information from people. She asked me what I liked about you and I ended up telling her everything."

"She's always been good at that. She pulled the same stunt just after I moved to D.C," Brooke stated. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her about the seashell you had me buy at the pier and how it sits on a shelf in my apartment."

"I was eighteen and refused to act like an adult. Sue me," Brooke said.

"I told her about how you send me old books for Christmas and my birthday."

"There's something about the smell of old leather and paper combined that is just so refreshing," Brooke said. She came and sat back down. "What else?"

"Does it matter?"

"To a girl, everything matters."

"I liked waking you up in the morning because your face reminded me of an unaware child."

Brooke began to laugh.

"When you came back from England, your voice was softer, more elegant."

"I couldn't have them thinking I was a stupid American now could I."

Brooke rested an elbow on her knee and placed her chin in the palm of her hand. She looked back at Reid. "Anything else."

Reid looked at the grass. "No."

"You lie," Brooke said. "So Spencer Reid the question has now become, do you like me as much as I like you?"

Spencer looked up into her grey eyes. Brooke turned to get a better view.

"It's not great being put on the spot is it?" she asked.

Reid shook his head. Brooke stood up and placed her hands on her hips.

"Call me when you figure it out. I have to go back inside and make sure Neil is working on his summer reading."

Reid watched her walk away as a million thoughts crossed his mind. What should he do? Should he stop her from walking away?

"Brooke," he called.

Brooke turned and looked at him. "Yes?"

"What does it mean if I say yes?"

Brooke smiled. "I guess we'll have to figure that out. Won't we?"

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Yay! Anyway, I hope that this chapter brought some smiles. And finally after nine chapters we see a relationship blooming. Now it's your turn. Tell me what you thought about this particular chapter as well as the story in general.

Sorry for the late update, with the holiday this past weekend I found myself cleaning the house, visiting family, and over all playing hostess to one of my good friends as we sat and watched a marathon of Criminal Minds episodes.

She kindly reads my stories, but sadly is not a member of Fanfiction so her reviews are never in my inbox. I'm still going to give her a shout out from now on.

Till later than my friends I leave you with this nice chapter.

Ren.


	11. Chapter 10

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: This week's shout out's go to **__**Noskilz**__** and **__**ally leigh**__**. Thank you for your awesome reviews. I really enjoy hearing from my readers.**_

Author's Note: I know I know. Generally my author's notes are at the end of each chapter, but I just wanted to let everyone know that starting from this chapter on. I'm going to try and incorporate the episodes starting after JJ's departure. So the episode that this starts with is _Remembrance of Things Past._

0o0o0o0

Chapter Ten:

Reid stood in his favorite Indian Restaurant waiting for Brooke to show up. He had just gotten back from Bristol. Brooke came running in.

"Spencer, I'm so sorry I'm late," Brooke said.

She was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a white button up with a black vest. Her sleeves were rolled up and her glasses were replaced by a pair of lavender contacts.

"You're not wearing your glasses."

"I had to meet with some students. I wanted to make them feel uncomfortable."

"Why?" Reid asked.

A waitress came over and escorted them to a small table. Brooke sat down and slipped her messenger bag off and put it on the back of the chair.

"Enough about that. Uncle Dave said your unsub has Alzheimer's."

"That was one of your dissertations. Psychology right?"

"Profiling was sociology. The effects of Alzheimer's on a family," Brooke said. "Tell me about it." She rested her chin in her hand and smiled.

Reid smiled slightly. "It was really interesting actually."

"I'm sure, but horrible too."

"He was trying to relive the murders, but he couldn't remember them. His son was his care giver and was helping him relive the murders."

"That's awful. I would never do that." Brooke said.

"You don't really have to worry about it though." Reid said. "No one in your family is a serial killer."

Brooke shook her head. "Very true, but even if they were, my moral compass tells me I'm not allowed to kill someone."

"You didn't carry a gun while you were with Interpol."

"I didn't see a point to carrying one. I joined at twenty and who in their right minds would give you a gun at the age. Besides, I was a profiler. I stayed at the home base and did my thing."

"What about when you would go to apprehend the unsub."

"My superior had an extra gun. Besides, I'm better with hand to hand combat." Brooke said. "It seems fairer."

"The unsub might not think so," Reid said. "What if they have some sort of advantage?"

"Ahh that's where gender comes into play. If they're a guy, you kick them in the nuts and cuff them. If it's a girl, I go for the hair."

Reid winced. "That doesn't seem fair."

"Oh it's not, but it gets the job done. If I have to resort to such tactics it usually means I don't see another possibility."

"How's your teaching position?" Reid asked wanting to change the subject.

"They're having me teach two general Psychology courses as well as a clinical and criminal course."

"Do you like it?"

"Come the end of January I'll have new students. No one sticks out, but really who can compete with you, Gideon, and Uncle Dave. Or any member of the BAU for that matter."

"Are you actually looking for someone to stick out?"

"I did."

"You were a thirteen-year-old."

"I still wrote epic papers."

"And these students aren't writing decent papers."

"Every time I assign a paper they groan and mumble. We're just getting to the good stuff. The first month was parts of the brain and all the really basic stuff of Psychology."

A waitress came and took their orders.

"Does Neil like his school?" Reid asked.

Brooke smiled. "He's having trouble with Chemistry, but he excels at French. He's made some friends as well."

"He tried out for the football team right?"

"Don't remind me," Brooke moaned.

"Why?"

"Spencer, I don't watch sports. Now I have to go to all of his games and record them for dad and Callie."

"When are they?"

"Friday's at seven."

"If I don't have a case, I'll go with you."

Brooke looked a bit surprised. "But you hate sports almost as much as I do."

Reid took a sip of his drink. Brooke smiled and grabbed his hand. "You don't have to come, but if you do, that would be nice."

Reid looked at her hand and squeezed it slightly. They had been 'dating' for a little over a month. He liked holding her hand and when she would lean up to kiss his cheek.

Brooke let go of his hand when their food was brought over. She grabbed a fork and poked at her bright red meat.

0o0o0o0

Brooke and Reid stood outside his apartment. Brooke smiled. "Normally the guy walks the girl to the front door."

"What?"

Brooke laughed. "Nothing Spencer. Good night, I'll see you on Wednesday," she said. "Provided you don't have a case."

Brooke leaned up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. She looked at him for a second before walking away.

Reid let out a sigh and pulled out his keys. He walked into his apartment and looked around. He really needed to clean up. After Brooke left he didn't actually bother to keep his apartment in its neat manner.

He walked into the small kitchen and started cleaning up a bit. Brooke cleaned his kitchen the first week she was there. She claimed boredom and he accepted it.

An hour later he was crawling into his bed exhausted from work and cleaning. He turned and looked at a picture he had of his mom. Behind it was a friendship bracelet Brooke had made years ago. Its simple brown shades were lined up in a simple pattern. The small flaws in the knots were what made it unique to Brooke.

Brooke had sent it to him from Russia. They were chasing a mob hit man and she had made the bracelet while on the plane.

0o0o0o0

Brooke entered her condo and found Neil struggling with his homework at the dining room table.

"Chemistry?" she asked.

Neil looked up. "How was your date?"

"Pleasant as they usually are," Brooke answered. She looked at a box that was sitting on kitchen counter. "Who's the box from?"

"Some place in Ireland."

Brooke walked over and looked at the address. "Strange."

"Who do you know in Ireland?"

"No one," Brooke answered. "Maybe, someone from Interpol."

"Wouldn't they put their name on the box?"

"No not really."

"Maybe you should just leave it," Neil said.

"You carried it up?"

Neil nodded. Brooke grabbed a knife from her black and cut off the tape. She carefully inspected the box before opening it. She pulled out some t-shirts and a couple pairs of jeans.

"Who would send you clothes?"

"John."

"Like your ex-fiancé."

Brooke nodded. "I must have left these at his summer home in Dublin." She looked in the box and found a note at the bottom.

Neil stood up and tried to read the note. Brooke headed for her room and folded the note back up. "Finish your homework."

"I don't understand Chemistry and I need you to edit my essay."

"Call Spencer and ask Uncle Dave to look at your essay." Brooke stated as she descended the stairs.

"Uncle Dave has to work on his book," Neil yelled.

"Give me a minute Neil. I'll help you then."

Neil grumbled and sat back down at the table. He raked his hands through his hair and stared at his notes.

Brooke sat on her bed and studied the note. "Why now John," she said before pulling a lighter from her nightstand drawer.

She set the note on a small slab of granite that she used for a coaster and lit it on fire. She stood up and came back up the stairs. She took a seat next to him and looked at him.

"Give me your essay and a red pen."

"You okay?"

"He's just someone that's hard to forget. Don't worry about it."

Neil pulled out a stapled essay from a white binder and handed her a red pen.

"Can I see your prompt as well?"

"Thank you," Neil said.

"You're welcome."

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat in her office at the University grading papers when her cell phone rang. She smiled when she saw 'Vegas Knight' on the screen along with the photo of mismatched socks.

She answered her phone as her TA came in with the exams. "Hey Spencer, what's going on?"

"I have to go to Ohio," Reid's voice came through the line.

Brooke frowned slightly. "All right, then we'll get together when you get back."

"I'm sorry."

"Spencer, it's your job. Don't worry about it. If you're back by Friday afternoon, we can get an early dinner and then go to the game."

She hung up and looked at her TA. "Thank you for waiting Angela."

"No problem Dr. Taylor. I had the scantrons graded I was about to look at the written parts of the exams."

Angela Johnson was twenty-four years old. She had been attending George Washington University since she was eighteen. She was new to the Ph. D. program and Brooke had seen a lot of promise in her.

"Great, how are the exams."

"Not great. It sounded like world war three."

"That's the one thing I hate about a scantron reader. When it marks something wrong it makes that loud clacking noise." She looked down to continue grading a paper.

"Can I ask you something?"

Brooke set down her pen and leaned back in her chair. "Sure."

"How did you know you wanted to be a profiler?"

"Are you thinking of joining the academy?"

Angela nodded.

"I grew up with a godfather who helped start the BAU. I was always watching the good he did. I decided when I was about to graduate high school that I was going to do what my Uncle Dave did."

"You say 'Don't worry about it' a lot," Angela said. "This suggests that whatever it is is actually bothering you."

Brooke smiled. "You caught onto that. You're right, but generally there isn't much I can do about it."

"Would you write a recommendation for me if I apply for the Academy?"

"Just let me know when."

Angela smiled. "I'm going to finish my degree first."

"Who's your advisor?"

"I don't have one yet."

Brooke seemed a bit confused. "Don't you need one?"

"Yes, but all of the other professors are already taken by other Ph. D students."

"I'll be your advisor. I'm not taken by anyone."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to the dean about it."

"Thank you."

0o0o0o0

Reid was greeted at the airstrip by Brooke. Morgan gained a playful smile while Rossi just headed for his car. Brooke ran up to her godfather.

"Uncle Dave, guess what?" she said excitedly.

"What?"

"You're supposed to guess. I'm now an advisor to a very promising Ph. D student."

"I'm not providing them with anecdotal evidence. That was a onetime thing for you," Rossi said.

"I'm not asking you too," Brooke said. "Uncle Dave, did I do something wrong?"

Rossi looked at her and then at Reid. "No."

"Is this about Spencer and me dating?" she asked. She studied his face. "It is," she said surprised.

"It's just, all the guys in the past. You've dated your friends before." Rossi said.

"Spencer's different. Truly he is," Brooke said placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be fine."

Brooke gave him a hug and told him to finish his book before running back to Reid. Morgan was standing next to him.

"Reid says you're going to your brother's football game."

"Yeah, my brothers are going to be there too."

"I played in high school," Morgan said. "Can I come?"

"Neil would like it."

"What position is he?"

"He's a running back. The game starts at seven. You know the school right?" Brooke looked at Reid. "So dinner?" she asked.

Morgan smiled and patted Reid on the back. "Have fun lover boy. See you at the game."

0o0o0o0

Brooke and Reid sat in a small diner.

"Have you ever met a swinger?" Reid asked.

"What kind?"

Reid poked a fry into some ketchup and didn't look up. Brooke smiled and dipped a chicken strip into some ranch dressing.

"You mean a _swinger_," Brooke said. "I know a couple."

"You do?"

"Why are you surprised?" Brooke asked. "I pretty much will accept anyone. It doesn't matter to me if they're different than me or believe differently. I look at someone's personality."

"How do they do it?"

"Variety is the spice of life."

"Would you, you know?"

"Go to a swing party?" Brooke laughed. "No, I'm not interested in having sex with multiple people at one time."

Reid looked away and Brook shook her head. She looked at a small watch on her wrist. "We should finish up. Neil's game is in two hours and I have to go to my condo and change."

"Why?"

"You don't go to a football game in flats, slacks, and a button up."

Reid looked at his clothes. "I'm in slacks and a button up."

"If you wear anything else you look awkward, so please don't try."

0o0o0o0

Reid looked around at the hundreds of teenage boys and girls running around before the game started. Brooke was looking through her messenger bag for something.

"What are you looking for?"

"My camera so I can give it to Brandon and sit down." Brooke said.

"Where are we going to sit?"

"The biggest section of bleachers is the home side. We'll be sitting at the center field line." Brooke answered. She pulled out a small silver camera.

Reid looked at the bleachers. "It's kind of crowded."

"Blair's saving seats for us. He said Derek's there already here, as well as Kerrie."

"Why did Kerrie come?"

"She used to babysit Neil while she was getting her masters at UC Irvine."

Brooke grabbed Reid's arm and dragged him towards the bleachers.

"It's really loud," Reid said.

"I know. It can't be helped. Neil's school is quite the spirited bunch."

Brooke spotted her oldest brother and shouted his name. Brandon walked over a minute later and Brooke handed him the camera. She gave him a hug before looking up into the bleachers.

"There are Blair and Derek," she pointed.

"How long is a high school football game?"

"Each quarter is fifteen minutes. The introduction and half time are fifteen minutes as well. So an hour and a half." Brooke answered as she walked up the stairs.

Blair looked at Brooke as she held Reid's hand and sat down. "Glad you could make it Dexter."

Morgan leaned over and smiled. "Why do you call him Dexter?"

"Have you ever seen the cartoon called Dexter's Lab?" Blair asked.

"No, I've heard about it though," Morgan answered.

"Dexter was really popular when we met Spencer Reid. It was a cartoon where a boy name Dexter was a genius. Brian started calling our boy genius Dexter and it stuck." Blair explained.

"So it's not for the TV show Dexter?"

"Hell no," Brooke said. "If it was, I would have beaten my brothers to a pulp."

An announcer came over the intercom and everyone turned to the field as the announcer started calling player's names and jersey numbers.

"We have to listen to fifteen minutes of this?" Reid asked.

"Why do you want to leave?" Brooke asked.

"No."

"Good this will be fun."

"Hey Brooke, Neil told me that John sent you a box." Blair said.

"What?" Brooke asked. "Oh the box, It was just a bunch old clothes and a note."

"You okay?" Blair asked.

"You didn't tell me John sent you something," Reid said

"I forgot," Brooke answered. "It's not a big deal

"What did the note say?"

"It was an apology and some old memories," Brooke answered. "He's not a part of my life anymore, so it was a nice thing to do, but I just don't care."

"Who's John?" Morgan asked.

"My ex, and therefore not a present problem," Brooke answered.

Reid looked at her and knew she was lying about him being a problem. He squeezed her hand and she smiled.

"Where are Brian and Kerrie? I know Brandon's down below taping the thing."

"They went to go get food."

0o0o0o0

Brooke let out a yawn as she and Reid walked to his front door. "Why are you walking me to my door again?" Reid asked.

"I'm tired and shouldn't be driving right now." Brooke answered. "At least until I take a break. Maybe sit and read a book."

"Reading will make you even more tired."

"It's better to use my brain than to stare at a brightly lit city road."

Reid unlocked his front door. "What about Neil?"

"He spends every Friday night at Brian's," Brooke answered. "When baseball starts he'll spend them with Brandon. They work together on Saturday's to help with Neil's technique."

"So you always have Saturday to yourself.'

Brooke nodded as she walked into the apartment. She looked out at the somewhat lit city. She smiled and sat on the couch. "Do you ever get lonely when you come home from a case?" she asked.

"No, I just come home and then I go to work."

"I did. When I would come back from a case. I'd be sad to find my home empty. Now that Neil's living with me and I've got my best friend nearby, things are looking up."

Reid looked at her for a moment before moving to sit on the couch. Brooke scooted closer and leaned on his shoulder.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: So here is the beginning of Brooke and Spencer's relationship. Anyway, I'll be posting two chapters today for all your lucky readers. So leave a review and tell me what you think. I'm going to post Chapter Eleven later today. Happy reading folks

Ren


	12. Chapter 11

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: So the shout out for this chapter goes to**__** fusquinha**__** who reviewed one of my earlier chapters. Thank you for your nice review. Looking at the quote you put on, I realized it may not have made the most sense so I'd like to explain it a bit.**_

_**Brooke says that talking to people is like a science. In that you needed to look at the person you were trying to talk to and go from there. Very often we find ourselves in situations where we don't know how to act. Science is about making observations around you and then drawing conclusions. So when you try to talk to people you need to kind of get a feel for them a bit before you can talk to them comfortably. That's how it became a science**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Eleven:

Reid sat on the BAU jet tired. He had listened to Jeremy talk about his kills for three hours. He could see why Jeremy's mother was afraid, but he also didn't understand how someone could just abandon their son.

Hotch sat down in front of him. "How's Brooke?" he asked.

"She's been working with her teaching assistant to come up with an original dissertation. She's also getting really excited for the material she's covering in her classes. She sent in another book to her publisher."

"And your relationship?"

"What?"

"It's hard to date when you're traveling to a different case every week."

"She understands. She knows that we travel to a case. We get dinner when I get back. We watched the new Star Trek movie at her house a couple days ago."

Hotch looked at the young genius and shook his head. "Good for you Reid."

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat on her couch flipping through channels on her TV. She was in basketball shorts and a black t-shirt advertising a publishing company in England. Her front door opened and Neil came in wiping his face off with a towel.

"How was the gym?" she asked.

"Good, hey why don't you go to the gym?"

"I have my own exercise regimen of yoga and tai chi," Brooke answered. "Are you saying I need to get in shape?"

"No, I just never see you exercising."

"I do it in the morning as a way of preparing myself for the day."

"Did you hear? John's family company has expanded to the U.S. He's the new head of the D.C. branch," Neil said.

Brooke looked at him in surprise. "No, where did you hear about it?"

"Some teachers were talking about it in the halls," Neil answered. He looked at his older sister. "You all right?"

Brooke smiled. "Go get a shower. You stink."

"Is John going to cause problems?"

"Don't worry about it," Brooke said. "I'm sure he'll leave us alone."

Neil nodded and walked into the bathroom. Brooke pulled out her cell phone and dialed Spencer's number. It went straight to voicemail and she sighed.

"Hey Vegas Knight. I guess you're still in the air. Just give me a call when you land," she spoke into the phone. She hung up and changed the channel to watch The Big Bang Theory.

0o0o0o0

Later that night Reid opened Brooke's front door and walked in. He was surprised to find the lights off in the kitchen and dining room. A dim light was on in the living room. He found Brooke asleep on the couch.

Classical music was flowing from the stereo. Brooke appeared to have been grading papers before she fell asleep. A couple of essays had fallen on the ground.

Reid walked over and picked them up and set them next to her open laptop. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her awake.

Brooke opened her eyes and looked at him. "Spencer, what are you doing here?"

"I got your message. Is everything okay?" Reid answered.

Brooke scooted over so Reid could sit down. "Yeah, I just found out something a while ago. What time is it?"

"Eleven thirty."

"Did you drive here?"

Reid nodded.

Brooke stood up. "I'm going to check on Neil real fast," she said. She bent over and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad you're back safe."

Brooke opened Neil's bedroom door and found him passed out cold on the bed. She smiled and closed the door. She came back into the living room and found Reid looking at some of the papers.

"I don't suppose you want to help me grade," she yawned.

"Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"

Brooke nodded. "But I promised I would have the essays graded by tomorrow morning."

"What did you find out today?" Reid asked.

"John's extending his family's company to D.C. He'll be the head here," Brooke said. "It's not a big deal, but you can't help but wonder." She turned up the light in the living room.

Brooke took a seat on the couch once more and turned up the light. She grabbed an essay and a red pen. "I've got to get this done."

Reid picked up an essay. "Do you have an extra grading rubric?"

Brooke pulled a chart out of a binder and handed it to him. "Mark any and all mistakes. Comment as much as possible.

"Okay," Reid answered. He grabbed a second pen from a box and uncapped it.

The two graded silently. Brooke would scan the pages and write quickly before continuing on with her reading. When she finished an essay she would place a grade on the paper and then enter it into her computer.

"What are you going to do if John tries to contact you?"

"Change my name and move to the middle of nowhere," Brooke answered. "Nah, I'll just ignore him as I've done the past two years." She underlined a sentence and placed a question mark.

"He was the longest relationship you've had."

"Well yeah. I was engaged to the man. I'm not the kind of person to just settle with a guy. I have to be pretty serious about it."

"Do you still love him?" Reid asked.

"What kind of question is that?"

"A valid one."

Brooke stopped grading the paper in her lap. "Spencer, you don't just stop loving someone. Would I ever get back together with him?" she shook her head. "Of course not. He hurt me in the worst way possible and I can't forget that."

"Still, you have feelings for him."

"I didn't say that," Brooke said. "I said that you can't stop loving someone. I can't just seem to forget the good times I had with him before he cheated on me. I don't want to be with him and I could pretty much go my entire life without ever speaking to the guy."

"But what if he tried to get together with you?"

Brooke looked at him. She leaned over kissed him lightly on the lips. "Do you trust me?" she asked.

Reid nodded. Brooke smiled and placed a hand on his cheek. "Then that's all that matters because I trust you."

Spencer leaned in and kissed her again.

0o0o0o0

Reid sat at his desk working on a small profile request when Morgan leaned against the desk. "So when is your lovely girlfriend going to stop by the BAU again?"

"She has classes until four. It's not likely that she's going to come over."

"Then we should all hang out at her brother's bar again," Prentiss said from her desk.

"Spencer!" Brooke's voice came from the doors of the BAU.

The three team member's looked over. Brooke was in a Stanford sweatshirt and jeans with black boots.

"Brooke shouldn't you be teaching a class?"

"Cancelled, I had a staff meeting earlier," Brooke answered as she pranced over. "But that's not why I'm here."

"Why are you here?" Morgan asked.

Brooke pulled a large envelope out of her bag. It had something thick inside. She handed it to Spencer and smiled.

Reid looked the envelope over and looked up at her. "They approved your dissertation?" he asked.

Brooke nodded as she folded her hands and put them under her chin. She started to bounce in excitement.

"You haven't opened it yet," Reid said.

"I'm too excited."

"Wait you just got another Ph. D?" Prentiss asked. "In what?"

"English," Reid and Brooke answered.

"When I was working in England I was offered the opportunity to join Oxford's Ph. D program. I had my get my master's but they told me that all I had to do was fill out all of the paper work. I joined the program three years ago."

"It took you three years to complete?" Morgan asked.

"Two. This last year was spent tweaking and editing before the six months it took them to submit the dissertation and have it put through the review."

"Why haven't you opened it?" Prentiss asked.

"Like I said before. I'm too excited."

Reid turned over the envelope and opened it. He pulled out a small cushioned folder. He looked in the folder and then held it open for Brooke to see.

"Yes!" she shouted. She started jumping up and down. She took the folder and hugged it to her chest tightly.

Hotch and Rossi came out of their office and looked into the bullpen. Brooke stopped and held the folder out towards Rossi.

"Hah!"

"I never said you couldn't do it Brooklyn. I only doubted your ability to get it done in three years," Rossi said. "I still don't see why you needed a third one. I thought you were happy with two."

"Congratulations Brooke, but keep it down though." Hotch stated.

Brooke looked sheepishly at the ground. "Sorry Hotch."

0o0o0o

Spencer and Brooke were sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial holding coffee cups. "I can't tell you happy I am right now," she spoke.

Reid took a sip of his coffee. "You worked hard for that third Ph. D," he said.

"Thank you Spencer. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have it."

"You did the work."

"Yes, but you helped me come up with the idea of the changes in Western Literature," Brooke answered.

The two of them looked at the National Mall complex as the sun was setting. Brooke let out a small yawn.

"Why are you always tired?"

"I don't know," Brooke said. She stood up and sighed. "Am I taking you home?"

"I'm taking the train."

Brooke smiled. "Be careful," she leaned up and kissed him before hopping down the stairs. "Good night my Vegas Knight."

0o0o0o0

October 27, 2010

"And today it only rivals Christmas in terms of popularity," Reid stated as he entered the conference room.

"All I asked was what he was doing this weekend," Prentiss stated as she took a seat next to Rossi.

"I'm toying with the notion of either going to the Edgar Allen Poe Shadow Puppet Theater or the reenactment of the 19th century phantasmagoria."

"I don't wanna know," Rossi said as Garcia came in with a bright orange sweater.

"Oh yeah, you do. Phantasmagorias are these precinima projected ghost shows created in France. Where the showman attempted to spook the audience using science magic," Reid explained. "I was going to ask Brooke to go with me."

Garcia started handing out files. "Guys, I wouldn't have to worry about losing my feminine curves if you all paid attention to all the trees were consuming around here."

"When did you become an eco-freak?" Morgan asked.

"Baby I was born green," Garcia said.

Hotch walked in and turned on the TV. "We're going to Detroit."

"But its Halloween weekend," Reid complained.

"Arson investigators have noticed a three year trend in the days leading up to Halloween."

"Devil's night,"

Spencer dialed Brook before the team got onto the jet, and waited for her to pick up the phone.

"Speak," Brooke stated.

"Hey," Reid said.

"How is my Vegas Knight?" Brooke asked.

"I have to go to Detroit."

"But its Halloween weekend," Brooke stated. "I was going to take you to see the reenactment of the 19th century phantasmagoria," she explained a touch of disappointment in her voice. "I got the tickets last week."

"I got tickets for the phantasmagoria," Reid said.

There was a pause over the line when he heard Brook start to laugh. "I guess great minds do think alike."

"You can go without me."

"I guess, if you're back in time we'll go together and I'll give my tickets to Kerrie. She can take someone. If you're still in Detroit then I'll just end up taking her anyway."

"I'm sorry."

"Go save the day Spencer."

0o0o0o0

Reid jogged down the hall of Brooke's apartment building. He was running a half hour late. He stopped in front of her door and knocked.

Brooke opened the door. She was pulling on a pair of black high heels. She was in a black knee length dress. The skirt was pushed out by several layers of netting. The bodice had hand stitched embroidery of leaves. She held a grey mask that looked like a wolf.

"Glad you could make it."

"I didn't have time to dress up," Reid said.

Brooke moved into the kitchen and grabbed her bag and another mask.

"That's what this is for." She handed him the mask and headed out the door.

Reid looked at the mask. It was painted with some gold, yellows, and browns. The nose had been made into a long beak.

He followed Brooke and locked her door. "It's a bird mask."

"Yep, I know," Brooke said. "Let's go, we're already late." She held out her hand.

Reid smiled and took her hand.

After the show Reid and Brooke were walking to the train station. Brooke held her mask in one hand while the other held on to Reid's hand. The Phantasmagoria was two hours long and their seats were in the middle of elderly couples.

"That was the most amazing thing ever. I'm so glad we went," Brooke stated.

The two of them walked down the stairs into the somewhat empty station. "Our seats weren't that great."

The train station was quiet, but still full of people trying to get to late night Halloween parties. Brooke gestured towards a saxophone player and she dragged Reid over to drop some money in the instrument case.

"Our seats were great."

"I can't believe you jumped at the skeleton."

"You know I get easily freaked out," Brooke explained. "Scary or not."

They made their way onto the platform. They found a small bench where they could sit while they waited for a train to come and take them across the city. Reid held Brooke's hand gently. He smiled down at her and leaned in to kiss her.

"Brooke?"

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: All right. Let's get this party started. I really like this new arc I'm starting. I'm really excited. Keep on reviewing you guys. This is going to be a lot of fun to write. Stay tuned for some more Spencer and Brooke moments.

And remember, every relationship is put through many trails that a couple must learn from. So that must mean that Spencer and Brooke will have to have some trouble as well. How will it work out for them? Will they get through it? Or will their relationship crash and burn?

Just remember to review. I can't read minds you know. I really really like to know what you think about this story. A lot of people are saying that you love my story and my favorite's list keeps increasing so overall I think you guys are proud of my little romance between our geniuses. There's more to come so I hope you all look forward to it all.

Ren


	13. Chapter 12

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator. Also, due to the mention of them in this particular chapter. I do not own Nintendo, the Professor Layton Games, Zelda, or Call of Duty.

_**Shout Outs: So this chapters shout outs go to **__**zelos888 **__**and **__**ally leigh**__**. Thank you for your kind reviews. Also a super thanks to ally for her lengthy reviews. I really enjoy reading them. A big thank you and shout out to my in person beta who at this point shall only be called **__**locachicade**__**. You never seem to be afraid to tell me what you think.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twelve:

Brooke jumped back like a small child who had been found with their hand in the cookie jar before dinner.

Spencer turned to look at their spectator. He was tall; at least six foot four. He had shaggy dirty blond hair that curled at the end. His blue eyes were darker than Brooke's grey ones. He was dressed in a full formal black suit and held a small black mask in one hand. His coat had long tails. Spencer had never actually seen this man in person, but he knew all too well who the man was. He had gained some muscle in the upper body since Brooke had shown him the picture of her ex three years ago.

"Brooke, I thought that was you," John Bateman smiled. He had the accent up an upper class Brit. He gave her the once over and his smile grew.

Brooke looked up from the ground. "Hello Jonathan."

"Oh Brooke, you hurt me. There's no need to be so formal with me," John said. He positioned himself so that his back was slightly turned to Spencer.

Brooke moved closer to Spencer as she watched her ex he was forced to turn to face her better. His smile faltered slightly, only to return a moment later ten-fold. Brooke narrowed her eyes slightly. Spencer noticed the slight twitch.

"I'm sorry did I interrupt something?" John asked feigning confusion.

Brooke's eyes narrowed a bit more. _Cheeky Bastard, _she thought. "Spencer and I were on our way home," she answered as she intertwined her fingers with Spencer.

"Oh, but the night only just begun," John stated gesturing around the subway. "I'm going to a Masquerade ball; you're welcome to join me Brooke. You're already dressed to go." Spencer grasped Brooke's hand tightly. She returned the squeeze to reassure him silently that she wasn't going anywhere.

"We're actually going home so that we could watch _Psycho._" Spencer stated quickly.

John looked a bit surprised. He looked at Brooke. "When did you start watching Horror films?" he asked.

"I started watching the old black and white ones a year ago. They're so cheesy compared to the new ones that keep coming out," she answered.

A train pulled up and Spencer gently tugged at Brooke hand. "This is our train," he said.

"Right," Brooke said following him to the train. "Good night Jonathan."

Once on the train Brooke looked at Spencer before turning to look out the window to see John looking at her. "I'm so sorry Spencer," she said. "I don't remember him being such an awful bugger."

Spencer smiled. "Bugger?"

"Yes, bugger, I could have called him a git too."

"Why not just call him a jerk?" Spencer asked. _Or some other choice words._

"That's what I said. He's a bugger," Brooke looked at him for a moment in confusion. He eyes widened and she clamped her hands over her mouth. "Oh, I used an English term didn't I?"

Spencer nodded as they walked down the aisle to find empty seats.

"I promised myself I wouldn't do that," Brooke said. "I mean it worked in England, but people look at me rather oddly when I call someone a piss-artist."

"What that?"

"A useless drunk," Brooke answered. "I've really got to stop doing that."

"I like it," Spencer said.

Brook slid into a bench seat and Spencer took a seat next to her. "Yeah, well most people wonder what the hell I'm doing in the United States. They seem to forget I was born and raised in this country."

"You lived in England for ten years, it stands to reason you picked up some of their terminology and insults," Spencer explained.

"It frustrates me though. I mean calling someone a git tends to hit them harder than calling them an idiot or an asshole, but still. Only British people call others gits. I'm not British!" she exclaimed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Brooke said. "Why did he have to show up?"

She leaned her head against the window. She slid her glance to look at Spencer. "We aren't actually going to watch _Psycho _are we?"

Spencer shook his head. "You don't have it in your DVD collection and I don't have a working DVD player."

"You don't have a TV."

"I did. I got rid of it."

Brooke sighed.

"What's your deal with Horror films? You can stare at pictures of mutilated dead bodies but you can't watch a movie?"

"It's the music. It gets to me. It does horrible things to my head."

Spencer took her hand and she moved to lean on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I shut down in front of him."

Spencer turned his head to get a smell of her hair. "I trust you."

Brooke smiled. "Good, so do I."

She pulled out her phone and looked at the screen to see a text message from Neil. "Looks like my little bro is staying at Blair's tonight. Do you have any interest in staying to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show with me?"

"You watch it every year right?"

Brooke nodded.

"I'm not doing the dance."

"But the dance is fun," Brooke stated. "It the whole reason for watching it."

0o0o0o0

The next morning Brooke groaned as her radio started blaring country music. She blindly reached for the contraption and turned the volume down.

She sat up a minute later and looked around. Her TV was on the DVD menu screen of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. She looked at the other half of the bed and found Spencer with his head buried under a pillow to block the music.

"Come on Spencer. We must have fallen asleep while watching the movie," Brooke said.

Spencer moaned like a teenager who dreaded waking up every morning for school. He pulled the pillow off his head and looked at her. "I hate going to work after Halloween," he said.

Brooke slid off the bed. "Let me get dressed. I'll drop you off at your place before I have to go to the University."

Reid nodded. "Okay."

Brooke walked into her bathroom humming to the song playing on the radio. She came out ten minutes later in a black and white plaid button up over a black tank top and a pair of blue jeans. She held a pair of socks and some tennis shoes.

"For a university professor, you look like one of the students."

"And your point is?" Brooke asked. "I don't see how dressing up will help me be a better teacher. I'm comfortable in these clothes. I tried dressing up, I couldn't teach like that. I talked with the dean about it."

"And?"

"I told him that I can't do my job if I'm not comfortable. As long as my tattoos don't show he doesn't care."

"You sleeves are rolled up."

Brooke grabbed her leather bracelets and clicked them on. She grabbed her glassed and slipped them on.

"Come on, you already going to be in a rush to get to work," she said. "We'll get coffee on the way."

0o0o0o0

Reid walked into the BAU feeling the slightest bit awkward. Even in clean clothes he couldn't help but feel like people knew. How could they possibly know that he had fallen asleep at Brooke's place? Of course nothing happened, but it was still the first time the two of them had slept in the same bed. Albeit it was accidental, but a part of him was happy that Brooke was asleep next to him last night.

The part that bothered him was that Brooke didn't seem to be fazed by the whole situation. Maybe because she had been in several relationships it wasn't a big deal for her. But she had to know it was a big deal for him.

Hotch called his name and told the young genius to meet them in the conference room.

0o0o0o0

Neil entered his sister's office at the University. He was in a pair of loose fitting jeans and a slightly baggy t-shirt. His backpack dangled off one arm. "Hey sis."

Brooke looked up from a stack of essays. "Was it Blair who dropped you off?"

"Yeah, he said you called him. That you were running late and couldn't pick me up from practice."

Brooke nodded. "I was trying to help Angela while simultaneously grading essays. It's not as easy as it sounds."

"Are you almost done?"

"I'm going to stop grading after this one. At least stop for the night. I have another hundred to go before I'm completely done," Brooke answered. "Then we'll go out for dinner tonight. What do you want?"

"Can we get Chinese?"

Brooke nodded. Neil sat at her table and pulled out a Nintendo DS. Brooke smiled and looked back at the paper in front of her. "What game are you playing?"

"It's that Layton game you let me borrow."

"Which one?"

"The one with the apple."

"Curious Village."

"Yeah, it's kind of hard," Neil said.

"Pick a better word Neil. Hard is a simple word."

"Complicated?" he asked waiting for his sister approval.

Brooke nodded. "The game makes you think, so think about the puzzles they give you." She stared gathering her stuff up. She dropped the stack of essays into a file cabinet and locked it. Once she entered the final grade in, she turned off the computer and loaded her laptop into her bag.

"I'll just play Zelda."

"More puzzles."

"Yes, but you get to slash at stuff."

"Stuff? Try and come up with a proper description."

"Monsters?"

"Better," Brooke told him. She came from behind her desk. "Let's get out of here before Dr. Thomas stops me again so he can stare at my chest."

"Gross."

Brooke smiled. "How was Blair's last night? I'm sorry I didn't get your message till later."

"That's all right. We handed out candy to his employees' kids and played Call of Duty," Neil answered as Brooke turned to lock her door.

"Sounds like you had a blast," Brooke stated sarcastically.

"Don't hate on Call of Duty," Neil said.

"I do not hate' on anything. I just find more pleasure in puzzles and books. Not war simulators," Brooke said. "You should try and find more productive things to do with your time. I don't understand how running around shooting people on a TV screen can be fun."

"It is fun."

"I highly doubt that. Read a book, go for a run, or watch an old movie. Something other than Call of Duty." Brooke stated playfully shaking her brother's shoulders."

"I read your books. They're fun."

"Pick a better word," Brooke sighed.

"Why are you so anal about my word choice?" Neil asked.

"Perhaps because the average vocabulary of a person your age is less than a thousand words. I have a problem with that."

"Why?"

"Just try and expand your vocab please."

"Fine, your books are creatively well put together to the point of enjoyment," Neil said.

Brooke smiled and hugged her brother as they entered the parking lot. She unlocked her Prius and Neil slipped into the passenger side and dropped his bag in the back seat. Brooke slid behind the wheel and turned the car on.

"Hey what happened with you and Dr. Reid last night?" Neil asked.

"We went to the show and then we came back to the condo-"

"Gross, you did it didn't you?" Neil exclaimed.

Brooke looked at him in shock. "We did not!" she shouted.

Neil covered his ears. "Lalalalalala I can't hear you, lalalalalalala," he chanted.

Brooke shook her head. "Real mature Neil, real mature."

Neil looked at her and removed his hands. "Did you guys actually do it?" he asked suddenly curious.

"No!"

"I mean it's okay if you did. I mean you'll be thirty in a couple years. I already know you're not a virgin."

"I'm not having this conversation with my fifteen year old little brother," she said as she backed the car up.

0o0o0o0

Reid sat in the Indiana police department. They had just given a profile and the others were out getting food. He pulled out his phone to call Brooke.

"Speak," she answered after the second ring.

"Hey.

"What's going on Vegas Knight? Catch the wrong doer yet?"

"Not yet," he answered tiredly.

"You forgot to eat again didn't you?"

"No- wait that was six hours ago."

"Geez Spencer, grab a granola bar."

"Morgan's going to bring me some food," Reid answered. "How did you know I hadn't eaten?"

"I know you Spencer; you tend to get stuck in your head when you think too much."

"How was your day?"

"Long and ultimately uneventful till about three hours ago," Brooke said.

Reid walked over to a small counter and poured himself some coffee. He loaded the caffeinated beverage with sugar and walked outside to talk some more.

"How are your classes going?"

"It's a slow progress, but progress none the less."

"And Neil?"

Morgan came walking down the street holding a takeout Chinese box. He stood a couple feet away to give Reid some space.

"Funny story. My little brother seems to have a one track mind, "Brook said. "I told him that you stayed over and his first though was sex."

Reid spit out his coffee and started coughing. Morgan moved closer in slight worry.

"Spencer, are you all right?" Brooke asked urgently.

An image of Brooke in her pajama short and tank top flashed through Reid's head. She was on the couch and leaned forward in worry.

"I'm okay," he choked out.

Morgan smiled and patted him on the back to release some air. He moved in front of Reid and held out a napkin. "You all right lover boy?" he asked.

"But we didn't do anything," Reid spoke into the phone as he took the napkin from Morgan and started wiping his shirt.

"You don't need to tell me Spencer," Brooke laughed. "I was there."

"I'll talk to you later," Reid said quickly as Morgan's smile began to grow.

"O-okay, well good luck with the case."

"Bye," Reid hung up and looked at Morgan. "What?"

"What did Brooke say to make you spit out good old cop coffee? It really isn't that bad," Morgan asked.

"Nothing," Reid said as he continued to wipe his shirt.

"Uh-huh, come one Reid spill,"

Reid began to busy himself with trying to dry the shirt by waving it around.

"Oh, you stayed at Brooke's house last night," Morgan laughed.

"We didn't do anything."

"I don't want to know the details Reid," Morgan said. "Here's your food."

"Morgan, we didn't do anything."

"Sure you didn't."

Reid followed Morgan into the precinct trying to explain. Morgan teasingly continued to push the young doctor to defend himself.

After five minutes Morgan looked at him. "I know you didn't do anything. It's just fun to watch you," he laughed.

Reid was left with his mouth hanging open in confusion. He didn't understand Morgan's need to torture him so much.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: So we've reached the end of Chapter Twelve. I really enjoyed writing this one. So let me know what you think. I'll try and get another chapter posted next week. The only thing that will delay it is that I'll be visiting family for the holidays. Fun times. I'll still try to get something done though.

As you all can see this is on a delayed time frame. I'm trying to speed it up, but I'm working on two stories and I try to post them at the same time. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to work out for me. I get one story posted on Friday and you're lucky if you see the second one on Sunday.

Anyway, drop a review my way and you'll earn a spot in the shout out section. All you have to do is click the little button at the bottom of the screen. All comments are welcome.

Till the next chapter.

Ren


	14. Chapter 13

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: So this chapter only has one shout out to an member and that's **__**ally Leigh**_._** As always I appreciate your reviews and I hope you keep them up. The second shout out is to my in person reviewer, who has been with this story since its start **__**locachicade**__**. I love all of the reviews that you call to tell me, for all of my stories, not just this one. **_

_**So for everyone else, Submit a review get a shout out.**_

_**Now I present to you for your reading pleasure:**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Thirteen:

Reid sat at his desk finishing up his report before he left to meet Brooke. Morgan leaned against the desk and looked at the youngest team member.

"So you and Brooke must be getting pretty serious," he smiled.

"We're just getting some Indian food," Reid answered as he shuffled through all the papers on his desk trying to find the right one.

Morgan chuckled slightly. "Have fun lover boy," he said patting Reid on the back.

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat in her office, waiting for Spencer to come. The two of them were getting their food to go, so that they could spend the night reading a hundred year old copy of Charles Dickens _A Tale of Two Cities_. It was one of Brooke's favorite books.

She was in a pair of brown low heeled boots that she had dubbed faux cowboy. They only came up a couple inches past her ankle and had decorative studded straps wrapped around them. She was in black boot cut jeans and a white button up under a black pinstriped vest.

She looked away from her computer screen and pulled her glasses off. She rubbed her eyes and pulled her hair into a messy bun. Some of the shorter hairs fell out of the makeshift hair style and framed her face making her look more like a stressed college student than a stressed college professor.

"You always did look sexy when you took a break after a day of hard work."

Brooke looked up in shock. "Jonathan," she said. "What are you doing here?"

John was leaning against the door frame. He was in a black business suit with an aqua tie. He flashed a bright smile as he walked in and sat in a chair and leaned back making himself comfortable. "How are you Brooke?"

Brooke frowned. "I'm busy Jonathan, can you please leave?"

"Looked to me like you were taking a break," John smiled.

"Just resting my eyes for a moment," Brooke said as she slipped her glasses back on.

"Brooke, can't we just talk?" John asked. "Like before?"

"I'd rather not," Brooke said. "I really am busy, I've got to get lesson plans finalized, I'm helping someone with their dissertation, and I don't have time to talk with old acquaintances."

"But we're so much more than acquaintances," John said. "I mean we were engaged. Remember the week we spent in India?"

"Yes," Brooke sighed, "It's where you proposed. I would really like you to leave now John."

0o0o0o0

Reid walked down the hall of professor's offices. He smiled when he noticed Brooke's door open, but it faded when he heard John's voice coming from inside. He stood outside the door and listened for a moment.

"Jonathan, I'm not going to tell you again, you need to leave. I'm meeting Spencer here and we're going to pick up some Indian food."

"I don't mean to sound bad-mannered, but have you actually had sex with the poor boy?"

Reid clenched his fist around the strap of his leather shoulder bag.

"Now you really need to leave."

John laughed. "How long have you two been dating?"

"Almost four months."

This brought more laughter. "Wow, you and I were doing it weekly after a month, wait almost twice a week."

"Get out!" Brooke yelled.

Reid entered the office and Brooke stared at him in horror. She was standing up hand braced on the desk her knuckles white from the tension in her long fingers.

"Spencer," she breathed.

John turned. A smirk pulled at his lips. "See you around Brooke, you too Spencer."

"Dr. Reid," Reid stated.

John's smirk grew and he left the room giving a small finger wave to Brooke. Brooke glared at the door for a minute before collapsing in her chair and turning it away from Reid.

He walked over and looked at her. "Brooke?" he asked as he stood in front of her doubled over frame.

She sat up and looked at him. "How much did you hear?" she asked.

"He had asked if we had had sex."

"I can't believe the bastard did that. He's such an ass."

"Does it bother you that we haven't-"

"Don't start up that nonsense Spencer. I've been celibate for almost two years. It'll happen when it happens and until then I'm perfectly fine."

"But it's been four months," Reid said. "How long-"

Brooke stood up and placed a finger on his lips. "Spencer, don't worry about it," she said. "There may be some sort of average time it takes for a couple to have sex, but we are far from average. You still get slightly nervous when I ask you to stay the night,"

Reid watched her as she turned to grab her bag. She slipped it on a shoulder and smiled at him. She leaned up and kissed him. He moved his hands to her waist and unconsciously pulled her closer as if to protect her from the world. Brooke smiled into the kiss and back up a moment later.

"Let's go get some food," she said grabbing his hand.

0o0o0o0

That night Brooke sat on Spencer's couch talking on her cell phone.

"Neil, I'm warning you don't stay up too late playing video games," she spoke. She used her fork to shove a piece of dark meat into her mouth. "You're only staying at Matt's so that you can finish the group project that you're doing. If it doesn't get done, you'll be grounded for a month. Don't think I won't do it either."

Spencer came into the living room and handed Brooke a glass of water.

"All right, good night Neil," Brooke said. She hung up and looked at Spencer. "Hey."

He sat down next to her and kissed her. He caught a hint of the spices from her meal and smiled. When they broke apart Brooke grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"How's your brother?"

"He's pretty excited that I trust him to stay at a friend's house," Brooke answered as she stood up and cleaned up her take out mess. "Let's see that book."

She let out a small yawn as Spencer walked over to the main bookshelf. Brooke came back from the kitchen just as he was sitting down on the couch. He held an old leather bound book in his hands.

"So how are we going to do this?" Brooke asked. "Who read's aloud first."

"It will take a couple nights to read the book aloud."

"Fine by me, I sense a sleepover in our near future," Brooke smiled. "Well, I mean, if you're okay with that Spencer. If not, we can just read the first chapter and then I'll head home."

Spencer looked at her. "You don't have to."

Brooke studied her best friend and boyfriend. "John got to you did he?"

"It only took you a month with him."

Brooke stood up in frustration. "And look where it got me. Completely heart broken and extremely pissed off. Remember you had to convince me not to take a samurai sword to the guy's car," Brooke stated. "That man hurt me more than anyone can possibly imagine because I jumped into the idea of love to quickly. I'm not going to make that same mistake again, especially with you."

"I should have let you destroy the car."

Brooke stopped fuming and smiled. "Spencer, you always know how to calm me down."

0o0o0o0

In the middle of the night Spencer woke up to find Brooke curled up on the bed with the book lying open next to her. The light was still on and Brooke's glasses hung off of one ear. He looked around and came to the conclusion that somewhere around chapter three he had fallen asleep and that Brooke had then read silently until she had fallen asleep.

He reached over and pulled her glasses off gently and pushed some hair out of her face. He set the glasses on his bed side table as she opened her eyes.

"Oh," she spoke softly.

"You fell asleep,"

"I can see that," Brooke sat up. She looked around to gather her bearings before she slid off the bed.

She started rummaging through Reid's drawers. He watched her in confusion and curiosity. He reached over and grabbed the small book and closed it before setting it on the table. "What are you doing?"

"I can't sleep in jeans, and I forgot to bring some pajama bottoms with me, so I'm looking for a pair of yours," Brooke explained as she quickly closed the top drawer discovering several pairs of boxers and briefs. "Nope, not there."

"They would be too big for you."

"I'm not walking in them, so why does it matter?"

"Bottom drawer."

Brooke pulled out a pair of black lightweight cotton pajama bottoms and grabbed a simple white t-shirt and quickly left the room. Spencer got off the bed and found his own pajamas to change into.

Brooke came in a couple minutes later as she raked her fingers through her long hair. She smiled and hopped onto the bed. She pointed to the book. "We didn't get very far did we?" she asked.

Spencer shook his head. "I only remember you reading to the end of chapter two."

Brooke nodded and yawned. "Unfortunately my eyes won't read any more."

"It's three in the morning."

"And?"

Brooke pulled back the blanket and patted the bed beside her before sliding under the warm covers. "Your bed is nicer than the guest bed," she said.

"It is?"

Brooke nodded before burying her face in the pillow. "G'night Spencer."

Spencer got under the blanket and turned off the light. He turned to look at the cocooned Brooke. "Good night Brooke."

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat with Kerrie in her Smithsonian office eating lunch. "So where is Dr. Reid off to today?"

"The Appalachian trail. He's chasing a serial pedophile," Brooke answered disgustedly as she poked at her food.

"I hope they get the sick bastard,' Kerrie grumbled. She pushed her salad around lazily. The thought of such a heinous crime causing her appetite to vanish. "So, you're going to California for the Thanksgiving break?"

"I don't really have a say in the matter. I have to take Neil to see my dad and Callie. I'll be in a hotel room, so at least I'm not in the same house," Brooke said. "We're going to be spending a lot of 'familly time'" she used finger quotes. "At Serena's place in San Jose."

"Is Neil staying with Serena?"

"Yep."

"Is Dr. Reid going to come with you?"

Brooke looked down at her food. "I don't know; he's awfully busy all the time."

"You should ask him."

"And make him deal with _my _family. I don't think so."

"Oh come on. I think he can handle the insanity that is your family. I did."

"Well thank you for taking my brother to your mom's for thanksgiving. Brian needs a proper girlfriend with a normal family."

"Oh my family is far from normal," Kerrie smiled, "But better than yours."

"And in a different state," Brooke sang.

"I think Dr. Reid would come with you."

"I'm not going to torture him with my crazy family. It's bad enough I have to deal with them."

"Why don't you ask him? See what he says."

0o0o0o0

Spencer entered Brooke's condo to find her running around the main living area in a football jersey and jeans. She stuffed some things into a brown canvas bag. Her black one sat on the dining room table.

"Oh, I'm running late," she muttered.

"Brooke, you have a couple hours until the game starts." Spencer spoke.

Brooke appeared to jump ten feet. "Spencer!" she exclaimed. "Don't surprise me like that."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, it's just this dammed trip to California," Brooke said. "Why can't I just skip over it?"

"You know that the holidays tend to the most stressful times for families," Spencer said.

Brooke moved over the coffee table and organized some papers. "I know, but it's even more so this time around. My dad and Callie are going to be judging me on my care of Neil this entire time."

"But you and Neil are doing great," Spencer said. "He's happy and so are you."

"And now Kerrie think I should ask you to join us for this horrid holiday dinner," Brooke said as she made her way into the kitchen. Spencer moved out of the way.

"So why don't you?"

"What?" Brooke asked as she grabbed some dished from the sink.

"Ask me to come with you to California," Spencer said.

"Because half the members of my family are certifiable."

"I've spent time with them before," Spencer said. "There was that Medieval Knights dinner you took me to when you came to see me at Caltech. Your family was there."

Brooke put the dishes in the dishwasher and leaned against the cool marble. "That was different. It was dinner and a show, we didn't have to talk."

"It's one dinner Brooke."

"You do know I'm in California for a week right?" she asked. "That means seven dinners.

"The team has the week off. I can go with you to California," Spencer explained.

"Spencer you don't have to."

"I want to. Besides, I have nothing else to do. I don't see my mom until Christmas."

Brooke looked at him, her face taking on a more serene tone. "Are you sure?"

Spencer nodded as Brooke looked at the ground. He walked over to her and took her hand. "Your family can't be that bad."

Brooke smiled a glint of playfulness in her eyes. "You'll change your mind. You'll see," she hugged him tightly. "So did you get the guy," she spoke into his chest.

"No, he got away. We found the kids though, and we know who he is and where his hunting ground is, so he can't abduct another child."

Brooke shivered. "I'm sorry Spencer," she said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay," Brooke looked at her simple wrist watch and its colorful numbers. "Crap I'm late."

"For what?"

"I'm getting a second piercing for my ears," Brook answered as she fingered her earlobe. "I told you this four days ago."

"What?"

Brooke laughed lightly and took his hand. "You can help me pick out the studs they'll put in."

0o0o0o0

Brooke yawned as she stepped into the baggage claim area of San Jose Mineta International Airport. "Well that was fun."

Reid stopped right next to her. "That was a really long flight."

"You've flown that long before," Brooke said.

"I've always been talking about a case. You fell asleep a half hour into the flight so I ended up playing chess by myself."

"Oh you poor baby," Brooke said. "I'm sorry; I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"You were asleep before me."

"I woke up later and spent the rest of the night in the office writing."

Neil ran up a big smile on his face. "It's so nice to be back in the Bay Area," he said. "Have our bags come?"

Reid leaned over. "I thought he lived in LA?"

"He was born at Stanford hospital Spencer, my dad and Callie moved to LA when he was five. He comes back to the Bay Area every summer," Brooke whispered back. "We just got here Neil, so the answer is no, our bags are not here yet."

"Is it a new book?" Reid asked changing the subject.

Brooke nodded. "A new world, a new plot, a new set of characters."

"How do you keep it all straight?" Neil asked.

"Having a photographic memory tends to help that along Neil. Mostly it's because I have a ton of notebooks filled with important information."

"Are you going to get it published?" Reid asked.

"Maybe, it's different than my normal mysteries, so I might draw in some new readers."

"How much do you make off of your books?" Neil asked.

"Enough. I've always put it towards retirement. I used it to by the condo," Brooke answered. "I don't really do it for the money though Neil. I love writing and I have an active imagination so it works out."

"Serena says I get to sleep in your room. Are there any secrets I should look for?"

Brooke snorted back a laugh. "Good luck. I was really good at hiding things," she said. "Spencer, why don't you and Neil wait for our bags and I'll go get the rental."

Reid nodded and watched Brooke walk away. He looked at Neil to find the teen staring at him seriously.

"You know, if you hurt my sister, I'll break every bone in your body. Right?" Neil stated after finally being granted a moment alone with the young profiler.

Reid just stared at the teen for a moment. "Yes," he answered.

"Just so we're clear," Neil said before heading to the baggage carousel.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: So I enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed reading it. Thanksgiving dinner is next on the list and some other surprises are in store. And of course we get to some of the bumps in the road for Spencer and Brooke's relationship. So that should be fun to write. I've been putting it off, but it needs to be done. Otherwise, we lose all the drama of the romance.

So by the time this gets posted on it will be Christmas day. For all of those who celebrate Christmas. Happy Christmas. And for everyone else, Happy Holidays and I hope they are grand.

So now it's your turn. Drop a review my way to let me know what you thought. I respect all reviews and if you think that something's off, let me know. I want to be able to put the best possible work out there and I can't do that if you all don't speak up. So submit a review, but keep in mind that it should be on the respectful side. I look forward to your reviews.

Till later then.

Ren.


	15. Chapter 14

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: So this week's shouts outs go to one reader **__**BookwormStrawberry**__**. I want to thank you for your kind review. And as always a special shout out for my in person reviewer **__**locachicade**__**, you continue to make me smile with your phone calls to tell me what you think.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Fourteen:

Brooke slid her hotel room key into the door. She pushed open the door and let Spencer walk into the room. He looked around the parlor room of the suite. "You booked a suite."

Brooke was in a jean skirt and a Stanford hoodie. She wore knee high boots with lace paisley tights. Spencer was in tan slacks and a blue sweater with his black all stars.

Brooke pulled her suitcase in. "Yeah, I prefer them to the dingy hotel rooms I stayed in while I was with Interpol," she answered. "These suites remind me of my first apartment."

Spencer dropped his bag next to the small love seat positioned in front of a TV. A dark wood coffee table in between held a vase of flowers. "So what are we going to do while we're here?" he asked.

"We have a couple hours of down time till we have to be back at Serena's for dinner. I can show you around San Jose. Oh wait, The Tech has an exhibit of the human body. It's supposed to be really informative."

"Okay."

"Oh, no, it's not open. It closed at five," Brooke said looking at her watch. The time piece was on the inside of her wrist.

"Why is your watch like that?" Spencer asked.

"It doesn't feel right any other way. Just like how you put yours wrapped around your sleeve," Brooke explained. "It's just the only way it feels right."

She sat down on the love seat and looked around. "Now what?"

Spencer shrugged. Brooke smiled up at him. "We appear to be quite the boring couple," she said. "We just go out for dinner and spend the night at each other's places."

"You can still show me around San Jose," Spencer told her as he sat down next to her.

"Let's get settled in and then see how much time we have," she leaned over and kissed him.

Spencer gently pulled her closed, causing Brooke to smile.

0o0o0o0

Brooke and Spencer entered Serena's small Victorian home. Brooke had changed into a simple white t-shirt under a light grey hooded sweater, layered with a dark leather jacket. She now wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a pair of white sketchers.

Spencer was in brown casual slacks and a white button up under a brown stripped sweater. He had maintained his all-stars to finish his geek chic look.

Brooke pulled her long hair over her shoulders as she entered the living room.

"Hey dad, Callie, Neil," she greeted.

"Serena's in the kitchen," he dad spoke while still focusing on an action movie playing on the screen.

Callie was focused on her smart phone and Neil was lying sideways in a chair reading _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_.

"How do you like the mysteries Neil?" Brooke asked him.

"It's cool. Thanks for lending me the book."

"No problem, come up with a better word next time though. Spencer, I'm going to talk to Serena. Make yourself at home."

Spencer nodded awkwardly and looked around at the three other people in the room. Brooke kissed him on the cheek and walked away towards the kitchen. As she entered the kitchen she took in a giant whiff of the smell of mash potatoes and steak.

"Smells good," she greeted.

Serena looked up from a pan and smiled. "All settled at the hotel?"

"Yep."

Serena smirked. "Looks like you got a little more than settled."

Brooke feigned confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I can see that little mark on your neck," Serena laughed.

Brooke slapped a hand on her neck and looked down. "I thought I had covered it."

"Only a small bit of pink peeks out. You didn't get those great observational skills from your parents," Serena said. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Why don't you go up to my room and use some of my make up to cover up the evidence of your little acupuncture session with Spencer."

Brook flushed and snuck upstairs by way of small staircase in the kitchen. She entered a dimly lit hallway and made her way into a simple bedroom of warm colors and walked over to a dark wood vanity. She grabbed some cover up and walked into the master bath.

She removed her jacket and sweater and moved her hair out of the way.

Brooke came down to the dining room a few minutes later and found Spencer sitting at the table stiff as a board. Her dad had a fixed gaze on him. She sat down next to Spencer and looked at him.

"Spencer, are you all right?" she asked.

Later that night Brooke found Spencer flipping through the pages of the in suite Bible. She was in a pair of pajama shorts and a camisole.

"What happened between you and my dad?" she asked. "You didn't speak at all during dinner." She sat down next to him on the bed.

Spencer slid off the bed and sat in the reading chair in the corner of the room. "Nothing," he answered.

Brooke narrowed her eyes. "Spencer, what did he tell you?" she asked.

Spencer looked up and sighed. "Are you going to bed?"

Brooke shook her head. "No, I was going to watch some TV. Do you want to join me?"

"No, I'm going to sit here and read," Spencer answered not looking up.

Brooke stood up and left the room. She planted herself on the love seat and turned the TV on. She hugged her knees and starred at the screen while she immersed herself in the thousand thoughts that passed through her mind each one disappearing as soon as it came.

After a few minutes she stood up and grabbed her leather jacket and slipped her tennis shoes on. She grabbed her room key and left the suite.

Spencer stood up when he heard the door close. He walked into the parlor and looked at the television. It was still on but Brooke was nowhere to be found. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number only to hear the phone ring from the bedroom.

After ten minutes of waiting he grabbed his room key and left. He power walked his way down the hall and towards the elevators. He politely let an elderly couple exit the elevator before entering it. As the doors closed he focused on the couples intertwined fingers.

He walked outside and looked around. He focused on Brooke who was seated on a bench in the park across the street. She had her hands firmly planted on the woods planks and her gaze was focused on the ground.

"Brooke!" he shouted.

She looked up and immediately started stalking towards the other end of the small park and further into the downtown area. Spencer jogged across the street avoiding the minor traffic and then ran to catch up with her. "Brooke, what's going on, why did you leave the room?"

She whipped around and stared at him. "Why don't you tell me Spencer," she answered. "Was what my dad told you, that you feel the need to push me away?"

"It's nothing."

"Stop lying to me," Brooke shouted. "You know I hate lies Spencer. So why won't you tell me the truth?"

Spencer shuffled his feet around in the grass. "Your dad, he doesn't want me to… do anything."

Brooke shook her head and snorted. "That's it?" she asked. "Last I checked Spencer, we're adults. My father has no say in what we do as a couple. He's just trying to be the protective dad he should have been when I was growing up, and it doesn't suit him. I only started dating people after I had moved to London, you just happen to be the only boyfriend who's lasted long enough to bring home. It took me eight months to introduce my parents to John and that was by way of a webcam."

"Really?"

Brooke nodded. "You see, this is why I hate family gathering. You have to deal with people that you don't enjoy being around."

"Why don't you like your parents?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

Spencer looked down at Brooke bare legs. "Aren't you cold?" he asked.

Brooke looked around and let out a long breath. "A little bit."

"Can we go back inside?"

"Are you going to lie to me?"

"I have before."

"Spencer," Brooke warned.

"Not when it comes to you, just my job, sometimes I can't tell you everything."

Brooke shook her head. "That doesn't count. Especially if you're talking about your stay at the hospital just before you got shot."

"You know I was lying about the flu?"

"Uncle Dave is a horrible liar and so are you."

"Can we please go inside?"

Brooke sighed. "Fine."

0o0o0o0

Brooke adjusted her purple knit dress and her ankle length black high heeled boots. She checked her make up once more in the bathroom mirror.

"Brooke, we'll be late," Spencer spoke.

Brooke left the bathroom and pushed her sleeves up. She grabbed a necklace with a Stanford University emblem hanging from the chain. "We'll be fine." She walked over and gave him a simple kiss.

When they arrived at Serena's house they found it crawling with people. Brooke held Spencer's hand tightly as they weaved their way through the people and into the kitchen.

"Is there anything Spencer and I can do to help?" Brooke asked.

"Find me a bigger house," Serena sighed as she checked on the turkey.

"There are eighteen people here," Spencer stated. "They can't all fit at the dining room table."

"They won't, the children and teens will be in here, while the adults sit in the dining room and eat."

"Do you need help setting the tables?" Brooke asked.

"Neil's got it under control with your cousins James and Amanda."

"Oh, Jenna's kids."

"Yes, she's in the living room talking with Callie."

"I'm going to take Spencer upstairs where it's quieter. We've only spent time in the downstairs area."

"Okay," Serena smiled.

Brooke led Spencer up the kitchen stairs. She stopped in front of a dark brown door. "I haven't stepped foot in this room for a couple years."

"What is it?"

"My old room."

Brooke smiled and opened the door. The room was filled with dark woods and several shades of green. Neil had scattered a bunch of clothes around the room. A full bed was positioned in the corner next to the door. Across from the bed a small reading nook was set up with a couple of full bookshelves and an armchair. The closet was put in the remaining corner and in the middle of the opposite wall was a desk set up under a large window.

"I spent most of my college days here, all of my holidays when I wanted to avoid the stress of having to pick which parent I wanted to spend Christmas or Thanksgiving with. Actually after I started college and Serena saw the improvement in my mood and behavior while living with her, she petitioned the courts for custody of me.

"This room became my own sweet oasis of books and learning. Serena would sit in that chair over there," she pointed to the arm chair in the corner. "She would read while I worked on my homework and I told her about my day. I always had a funny story for her and she would talk about work."

"You really enjoyed living here," Spencer said.

"It's the only thing I remember about my living arrangements as a kid," Brooke frowned as she sat on the unmade bed. "I can't remember what it was like living with my mom and dad while they were together, much less when they were separated. School is the only thing that had actually stayed with me."

Brooke stood up and moved to the desk. She opened a drawer and reached in and pulled something from the top of the drawer above it. She pulled out an old leather bound book. Spencer walked over and looked at the book from over her shoulder.

"What is it?"

"My old journal," she answered. "There are several entries in here about our adventures together."

"Why?"

"Because they were noteworthy in my mind. There's an entry in here about the time Uncle Dave took me to interview a serial killer. It took him two months to gain permission, but once he explained that I was a doctoral student working on a dissertation on criminal profiling, I was allowed to come with. Plus I wouldn't stop begging."

"Can I read it?"

Brooke slipped the book into her messenger bag and looked up at him. "Nope, it's coming back with me to D.C where it will disappear once more."

"Why can't I read it?"

"It's the rambling of a teenage girl. Why would you ever want to read it?"

Neil knocked on the door frame. "Serena says to wash up."

Brooke nodded and stood up. "Why don't you use the guest bath up here and I'll wash up downstairs," she suggested before slipping out the door.

Spencer looked around Brooke room once more taking it in silently profiling it. Brooke was organized and mature, but the stuff animals on top of her headboard made Spencer think that she craved a childhood once more. At least a childhood where she wasn't already in high school. Her room radiated a comforting vibe and felt lived in while the apartment she had in London often gave the feeling of a closed off person with very little happening in that person's life.

He had been to it once when he went to a lecture on nineteenth century literature. Brooke wasn't even at the apartment. She was away on a case with Interpol.

When he came down he found Brooke scooting into her seat and talking amicably with Serena. He messenger bag had gone missing and he couldn't help but think she had hidden it so that he couldn't find it. He slid into the seat next to her and smiled at Serena as she set down two glasses of water.

"Thank you," he spoke as he felt Brooke take his hand from under the table.

"You're welcome Spencer."

A woman in her later thirties looked over at the young couple. She had dark brown hair a sharp nose and brown eyes. "So, Brooke, how long had you and Spencer been dating?"

"Four months," Brooke answered. "Spencer, this is Jenna, my aunt."

Spencer lifted a hand up and waved.

"Where are your two other brothers?" a man next to Jenna asked.

"And this is Uncle Ray, Jenna's husband, he's an officer in the navy," Brooke smiled. "Brian's with his girlfriend and her family and Blair is spending the holiday with my mother's family."

Callie and Nathan snorted. A woman in her late eighties looked up from serving herself some stuffing. "What's so funny?" she asked sharply while sending a glare towards Callie and Nathan. Her eyes narrowed as Brooke released her grip on Spencer's hand and looked down at her plate.

Brooke placed a hand on her brow and Spencer immediately recognized the shame and embarrassment on her face.

"It figures Brooke would be the only one to show up for a family event," Callie said.

Spencer watched as Brooke clenched her fist slightly.

The table grew silent and everyone focused on their plates. "It figures you two would still hold stupid grudges," the old woman said.

Brooke stood up. "Excuse me, I'm not feeling too great. I'll be back."

Brooke entered the kitchen and they heard Neil call her name. Serena sighed. "Spencer maybe I should pack some dinner for the two of you and then you can return to the hotel," she said. "It's not like we can have a normal family dinner," she muttered.

Spencer nodded as he stood up. He headed into the kitchen. Neil looked up from pushing his meat around and waved slightly. Spencer nodded before heading up the stairs.

He opened Brooke's door and found her lying down hugging a larger teddy bear. "Hey," he spoke.

Brooke looked up and smiled. "Hi, I'll be down in a moment. I just need a minute," she said.

"Serena said she would be happy to pack up some food for us to take back to the hotel."

Brooke sat up. "Are you crazy? She shouldn't have to do that."

"Just act sick and then we won't have to explain anything."

Brooke stood up. "Not a chance Vegas Knight. The inquisition has only just begun. We're staying," she smiled.

She pulled him out of the room and back to the dining room. "Sorry for that. I was feeling a tad dizzy," she lied. "I'm all better now."

"You aren't pregnant are you?" the old woman asked causing Nathan to glare at Spencer.

"No Aunt Bernice, I'm not pregnant. I just haven't been sleeping well is all," Brooke said. "So, how about we start eating."

The rest of the table gave nods of approval and started shoveling food into their mouths.

"Dr. Reid," Ray spoke, "What do you do for a living?"

"Uh, I'm a member of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico. I study criminal behavior."

"Oh, like what Brooke and her godfather do," Ray nodded.

"Did," Brooke spoke, "I'm working at George Washington University now."

"But you enjoyed working with Interpol," Jenna spoke up after taking a bite of turkey.

"I like teaching more actually," Brooke smiled. "Spencer works with a team of brilliant profilers."

"So you travel all over chasing criminals too," Aunt Bernice said.

"We go to cities when the police have requested our help with a case. We give profiles for all sorts of crimes. Serial killers, kidnappers, really anything where the police feel like a profile will help them get further along in a case," Spencer explained.

"So you must not be home all the time," Ray said.

Reid nodded. "We travel a lot, but we have periods where we're at home working on minor profiles," he said. He served himself up some prime rib avoiding the tryptophan filled turkey.

"You and Brooke must not spend a lot of time together then," Jenna said.

"Spencer and I get dinner every time he comes back from a case and if he isn't away on Fridays he goes to Neil's football games with me."

"You two aren't living together are you?" Nathan asked.

"No dad, we both have our own places."

By now the entire table had focused on the young couple.

"So what's the worst serial killer you've faced?" Jenna asked.

"Ah… um," Reid looked at Brooke slightly confused.

"It's all right Spencer, this is typical dinner talk for this family," Serena explained. "We have all participated in the criminal justice system at some time in our lives. Well except for Callie."

"I'm a counselor for children in Oakland," Jenna smiled. "It's not unusual for me to hear about gang violence and murder."

"The worst ones would probably be the brother who, um-"

"The pig farm," Brooke shuddered.

"It was pretty bad. They were picking up transients in Detroit and bringing them to a pig farm in Canada. One of the brothers was a quadriplegic and he was manipulating his mentally challenged brother to do the killings," Reid explained avoiding the more gruesome details. "That one didn't end well."

"Brooke what about you?" Aunt Bernice asked. "You've chased some serial killers."

"I wish I could say they were the worst," Brook frowned. "There's one serial killer though. He switches up the method of killing all the time, but he has a specific signature to let you know it was him."

"What is it?" Callie asked.

"He leaves romantic poems for the police," Brooke answered. "He named himself Maestro in a letter to our Interpol team. He explained that he was a master in all forms of killing and torture."

"Did you catch him?" Ray asked.

"No, he disappeared a week after Interpol was brought in," Brooke answered. "Most people assume he's dead."

"You don't think so."

"I know so. It was four years ago when we were first brought in on the case, and every six months the members of the team each get a letter taunting us," Brooke said pushing her peas around the plate. "But until he kills again there isn't much that Interpol can do to catch him. He's a ghost."

"I read your latest book," Serena said changing the subject. "It's good."

"I was guessing till the end," Jenna smiled.

"I'm glad; it means I'm writing it correctly."

"I figured out that it was Johnson by chapter three," Spencer said.

Brooke playfully hit him in the arm. "Not everyone has an IQ of 187."

Both Brooke and Spencer reached for their glasses and simultaneously drank from them.

"So, are you two doing the deed," an old Irish man in his nineties spoke up from his spot next to Aunt Bernice.

Brooke began to choke and Reid spit it water back into his glass. Both looked down and away flushed.

"I can't tell if that's a yes or a no," Aunt Bernice laughed.

Later that night Spencer and Brooke entered their hotel room. Brooke slipped her boots off and Spencer helped her take her jacket off before sitting on the love seat.

"Who was that old man?" he asked.

"Aunt Bernice's special friend. His name is Conner and he's from Dublin. He's a real pip," Brooke explained. "Those two are very… active for their age."

Spencer scrunched up his face causing Brooke to laugh as she sat next to him. She leaned over and kissed him.

"How?" he asked.

"Don't ask me, their sixty years older than us. I don't really want to understand the affairs of the elderly."

"The dinner wasn't that bad," Spencer told her.

"Oh no," Brooke stated sarcastically, "I mean that whole thing at the beginning was fun, and then Ray choked on his stuffing after Conner asked him about his sex life and Aunt Bernice accidentally spilled wine all over half the guest. It was a great night."

Spencer grabbed her hand and looked at her. "That comment that was made about your brothers, why didn't you say something."

Brooke frowned. "I don't want to talk about that Spencer. It's complicated and there's too much at risk," she said. "I'm going to grab a shower."

She pulled her hand away and entered the bathroom. She closed the door to the bathroom a minute later. Spencer looked at the wall clock and found that it was already close to ten. The two of them had been dragged into a small game of Scene It that lasted two hours. Brooke and Callie were tied until the end when Callie answered the winning question.

He walked into the bedroom and pulled his shoes off before falling onto the bed. Ten minutes later he heard a small intake of breath. He opened his eyes and turned to look towards the noise. He turned away quickly once he registered Brooke wrapped in a towel.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Brooke laughed. "It's not like you can actually see something. I'm completely wrapped up in a towel," she said. "And don't think I wasn't able to read your face before you turned away."

Spencer turned and looked at her. "You promised you wouldn't do that."

"It's not something you can just turn off Spencer," Brooke said sitting on the other end of the bed. "The dilation of your pupils says that you're turned on. Besides, I never said I wouldn't read your face, I just said I wouldn't call you on it unless it affected me and this little thing does."

She stood up and grabbed her pajamas from the closet. She walked back into the bathroom and closed the door with her foot. She came back a minute later fully clothed and holding a towel to her hair.

"Better?"

She laid down on the bed and turned so that she was facing him. "It's been a long day, but now that I've gotten a shower, I feel so much better."

"Are you tired?" Spencer asked.

"Not at all, I could run a marathon."

Spencer smiled as she place a hand on his cheek. "I don't think you can, you're better at short distance sprints."

"Shows what you know," Brooke smiled moving closer.

"I happen to know a lot," Spencer spoke noticing the small smiled that tugged at Brooke's lips. He pulled her closer and kissed her.

0o0o0o0

The next morning Spencer woke up the sun peeking through the closed curtains. He looked around and found his boxer hanging off the chair in the corner.

He heard Brooke sigh next to him and he turned to find her peacefully asleep under the sheets. He sank back into the bed and watched her for a few minutes before falling back asleep.

Brooke woke up an hour later and found Spencer's hand resting on her hip as he lay asleep. She lifted herself up slightly to look at the alarm clock on the table next to him. She carefully removed Spencer's hand and grabbed her pajamas.

She slipped into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Spencer woke up to the shower running and looked around. He sat up gathered his thoughts. He heard the shower turn off. About a minute later Brooke came out and smiled at him. "You're turn for a shower," she said.

"Did we actually have sex last night?" he asked smiling.

"Yep, we had great sex, but unfortunately today is not a day for staying in bed. We have to be ready to check out in an hour," Brooke said. She looked out the window. "It's too bad too; today would be a great day to do that."

Spencer nodded as Brooke grabbed some clothes and tossed them on the mattress. She grabbed Spencer's boxers and tossed them to him before picking up some personal items.

Spencer walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Brooke moved to sit on the bed before falling back on the mattress with a giddy smile on her face.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Oh lama. Well that was a fun chapter to write and now there is more to be done. I have the next couple of chapters plotted out so it should be easy peas.

So now it's your guys turn, drop a review my way telling me what you think. You know I love to hear from you guys. If something doesn't seem right or is off let me know. I can try to fix it. I write to please myself, but I take all reader comments into consideration. So let me know what you think and you'll have your name mentioned in the shout-outs.

So long for now.

Ren


	16. Chapter 15

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator. I do not own the poem that is seen later in this chapter. The author is unknown, but it's still not mine.

_**Shout Outs: So this chapter's shout outs go to two people. **__**BookwormStrawberry**__**, I want to thank you for your review. Brooke's parents aren't the best, but she had Serena and Rossi. The second person is my in person reviewer **__**locachicade**__**. I love hearing from her and her telling me what she likes.**_

0o0o0o0

Reid entered Brooke's condo and found her asleep on the couch. Neil was in his room talking on the phone. He wave to Reid who waved back before walking over to Brooke.

He gently woke Brooke up. She opened her eyes and focused her grey orbs on Spencer. "Long day?" he asked.

Brooke rubbed her eyes and sat up. "More like excessively boring," she answered. "How was New Mexico?"

"We got the guy; it was one of the victim's husbands," Reid said.

"Uh-huh, how did Seaver do?" Brooke asked.

"You know about Seaver?"

"I talked to Uncle Dave, he told me about her admission into the academy a while ago. Penelope tells me you think she's cute," Brooke smiled.

"But I don't," Reid stated quickly.

"Spencer, I don't have any sort of illusion that I should be the only one you find attractive. I find Mark Harmon to be unbelievably gorgeous, but I'm not going to go out of my way to find someone who looks like him."

"Do you find me attractive?" Reid asked.

"Unbelievably so," Brooke smiled. She leaned over and kissed him. "So how did Seaver do?"

"She disobeyed a direct order. Ended up going to the UnSub's house alone."

"So Hotch lectured her?" Brooke asked. Reid nodded. "He'll forgive her. Deep down in the cold exterior is a big heart."

Neil came out of his room. "Hey Brooke, I need your help with something."

"If it's Chemistry, talk to Spencer," Brooke said talking Reid's hand.

"It's for my film class," Neil said.

"What is it?" Brooke asked.

"I want to film you for a day. I need your permission to skip a day of school so I can film you teaching," Neil explained.

"Why do you want to film me?" Brooke looked at her brother and raised an eyebrow.

"You're a highly respected individual in the profiling community and I want to sit in on your psychology courses at the University."

Brooke opened her moth to speak but stopped. She shrugged, "Works for me. What's the assignment?"

"To follow someone for a day documenting their life. We're talking about documentaries in class."

"Okay. Why not follow Uncle Dave?"

"His boss doesn't think it's appropriate to let a fifteen year old look at the cases in the BAU," Neil answered. "What day do you teach your criminal Psychology class?"

"Well they're on Tuesdays and Thursdays. How about next Thursday? I can call the school and let them know that you'll be absent. You'll have to let your coach know."

"I will," Neil smiled.

"Okay," Brooke smiled. "Now that that's settled. What do we want for dinner? Spencer, I assume you're staying."

Reid nodded.

Later that night Reid found himself lying next to Brooke as she slept. He looked at her serene face and smiled. A lock of her long brown hair had fallen in front of her face and he gently brushed it behind her ear.

Brooke let out a small sigh before scooting closer to Reid.

0o0o0o0

James Matthews had lived to serve. He joined the Royal Air Force at eighteen. After a career as a military officer, he joined Scotland Yard at the age of twenty-seven. After twenty years of running his own team, he was offered a job with Interpol.

Given the chance to see more of the world and solved international cases, he gladly accepted the offer. On his forty-ninth birthday he was knighted by the Queen and Interpol had offered him the chance of a lifetime. The chance to put together a team of individuals whose expertise lay in separate fields of studies.

His right hand man was an intelligent Italian who knew antiques like the back of his hand. Signore Raymond Tolemei had been working with Interpol's White Collar Division for five years before he accepted Matthews' offer. He had met Matthews while chasing a notorious art thief through Prague. The two of them set out to find the final three members of their team.

Acker Kaulitz was German and an expert on all types of incendiary devices. Certainly one of the best out there. Interpol had placed him in their terrorism division. The perfect job for a man who knew how to hide a bomb for the best result. Matthews asked him to join his team after he found a bomb in the London subway.

Jae-Sun Park was a North Korean turned American. When he was three, his parents smuggled their small family out of the country and petitioned for asylum in the United States. His family was easily granted citizenship and Jae-Sun became like any other American kid growing up in a booming electronic age. At nineteen he hacked Interpol just to win a hundred dollar bet. Interpol chose to use his talent rather than put the boy in jail. Matthews had bribed the kid with new computers and a wider range of access.

Matthews needed a profiler to make his team complete. After all, the FBI had had an enormous success with their unit of profilers. Surely he could recruit at least one.

0o Seven Years Ago o0

_Matthews walked through the Stanford campus with Signore Tolemei. The Italian's curly black hair contrasting with Matthews's flat slightly greying hair along the temples._

"_Are you sure he's here?" Signore Tolemei asked._

"_His assistant said he was here to hear the presentation of a dissertation he provided anecdotal evidence for," Matthews explained._

_Matthews stopped his younger friend and pointed to a man standing under a tree talking on a cell phone. They waited calmly while he finished the call. When he hung up they walked over. _

"_Mr. Rossi?' Matthews asked._

_David Rossi turned and eyed the two. "Yes?"_

_Matthews and Tolemei pulled out their credentials and introduced themselves._

"_I've been asked to put together a team of my choice," Matthews began. "Seeing as you are one of the agents to start the BAU, I was hoping that you could be of some help to Interpol."_

"_I'm retired," Rossi stated. "Besides, Interpol is based in France and I have no interest in living there. It would limit my ability to guest lecture at the academy as well as put a kink in my book tours. I'm sorry." He let out a sigh of irritation._

"_But Mr. Rossi, Interpol would benefit greatly from your insight into the criminal mind," Signore Tolemei stated._

"_Uncle Dave!" a voice came from behind the profiler before a young woman pounced on Rossi._

"_Brooklyn, you can't keep doing that. You're not five anymore," Rossi grunted but a small smiled played on his lips._

_The young woman backed up and looked at him. She lifted her hand up and gestured to the sides of his eyes. "The wrinkling around your eyes says you enjoyed it," she said. She focused on the two Interpol agents. "Who are the cops?"_

"_How did you know we were cops?" Signore Tolemei asked._

_The young woman waved her hand at them. "You're stance says you're a cop."_

"_Sir Matthews, Signore Tolemei, this is my goddaughter Brooklyn Taylor."_

"_Are you a freshman here at the University?" Matthews asked._

_Brooklyn placed a finger on her lips. "Signore, does that mean you're Italian?" she asked._

"_Si," Tolemei smiled._

"_Oh, bon giorno, mi chiamo Brooklyn."_

"_You speak Italian."_

_Brooklyn turned to Matthews. "To answer your question Sir, I finished my freshman year at Stanford six years ago," she replied._

"_You can't be more than eighteen," Matthews said._

"_Nineteen actually, I turn twenty in January."_

"_Brooklyn just presented her second doctoral dissertation," Rossi said. "This one was for Sociology."_

"_You have a Ph.D.?" Signore Tolemei asked. "In what?"_

"_Psychology, I'll get a letter in a couple weeks telling me that my dissertation on the benefits of criminal profiling has been accepted and then I'll have two."_

"_Brooklyn, I have to go. My plane leaves for D.C in three hours," Rossi said. He looked at Matthews. "I'm sorry I'm not available to be a part of your team."_

_Brooklyn studied her godfather as he spoke to the Interpol agents. Matthews smiled. "We all lead very busy lives Mr. Rossi."_

"_So if you're Sir Matthews, does that mean you've been knighted by the Queen of England?" Brooklyn asked as she hugged Rossi._

"_It does," Matthews nodded. He waved to Rossi, "Good day."_

"_That's quite an honor. What kind of a cop are you?"_

"_You ask a lot of questions," Matthews said an idea forming in his head. "Tell me more about your dissertation."_

Two weeks after meeting Brooklyn Taylor he decided that if he couldn't have David Rossi he'd take the profiler's student.

Brooklyn and Jae-Sun bonded immediately after finding they had birthdays within a week of each other.

Matthews had his all-star team. He utilized everyone's résumés to the best of his ability. All members were more than willing to do their part in stopping international crime.

Six months ago he lost Brooklyn. It wasn't that she couldn't do the job. She loved her job; she had just lost a part of herself that prevented her from doing the job right. She still continued to consult for the team, but she profiled from a distance with the help of Jae-Sun. As far as he knew, only his team was aware that she was consulting.

But this time emails and video conferences weren't going to cut it. Life had decided to test the team once more and Brooklyn was a vital part of that test.

He sighed and picked up a framed picture. A tradition he had taken from his days in the Air Force. He looked at the faces of his team members. He stood in front of a bar with Signore Tolemei while Acker was sitting on a stool leaning on the bar. Jae-Sun and Brooklyn sat back to back on a couch in front of the rest of the team.

"God, I hope we can do this," he spoke.

0o0o0o0

"All right, seeing as your final is in two weeks," Brooke began as she paced in front of her class. "I hope you all are studying. On my webpage is a list of key concepts. Look it over. As long as you know the things listed on that concept list, you shouldn't have to worry about your final. Next Tuesday we'll be discussing the minds of Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dahmer."

The students got up to leave and Brooke sat down on a stool. Angela came in holding a large stack of papers.

Brooke hopped off her seat and took the papers from her. "Thank you for your help on the exams."

"That's my job as your TA. I grabbed the mail from your box. It's on top," Angela smiled.

"I'll look at it later," Brooke said. "How is the research going for your dissertation?"

"I'm having trouble finding sources."

Brooke stood up and walked over to a podium. She grabbed a piece of paper from a notebook. She sat back down and jotted something down quickly. "Give this to Gram at the Library of Congress. He'll help you find the articles and books you need. Just tell him your topic and he'll find it for you. I used him when I was working on my dissertations," she explained and handed the paper to Angela.

"Thank you."

"Remember, I'm here to point out the flaws of your arguments as well as tell you what points to emphasize. My advisor pretty much wanted to do my dissertation for me, but that's no fun."

Angela looked up at Neil who was up in the seats writing in a notebook. "Hey Neil, do you want to come with me to get some food for your sister and us?" she asked. "Dr. Taylor's clinical psychology class doesn't start for another hour."

Neil looked up. "Yeah, I'm starving."

"What kind of sandwich should I get you Doctor?" Angela asked.

"Turkey, cheddar, pickles, lettuce, and tomato are all good. With mayo and mustard."

"You got it. We'll be back soon."

Brooke grabbed some exams and started flipping through them.

"God, I thought they'd never leave," John spoke coming down from the shadows of the lecture hall.

Brooke dropped her exams and looked up at him. He eyes hardened and stood up. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Do I need to call security to have you banned from the campus?"

"So much animosity. How are you and _Spencer_ doing?" John smirked. "Have you had sex yet?"

"Shut up!" Brooke snapped. She moved to write on the board keeping a watchful eye on John.

"Come on Brooke, you were happier with me," he said.

Brooke snorted. "Oh, really, was that before or after you decided to sleep with every woman who had the pleasure of having met your acquaintance?"

John moved so that he was standing a couple feet in front of her. Brooke pushed herself against the wall and glared at him. He placed both of his hands on the wall and leaned towards her so that his mouth was next to her ear.

"I still remember all of your pleasure spots, we could have some fun," he suggested.

Brooke tried to shy away from him, but he placed his large hands on her hips, "Remember when would dance this close?"

"John you need to leave," Brooke said.

"Come on Brooke, you aren't being very fun," John smiled. "Can't I have a kiss?"

"No, let me go." Brooke tried to pull away.

John frowned. "I'm trying, Brooke. Least you could do is cut me some slack."

He looked to the door for a moment before pulling Brooke into a forceful kiss. She let out a muffled yelp and started pushing at his chest.

0o0o0o0

Reid had just finished giving a lecture at Georgetown an hour ago and had decided to stop by Brooke's class and listen to her Clinical Psychology lecture.

He had just reached Brooke's lecture room when he stopped. Brooke had her lips locked with John. He held her close, one hand resting on Brookes which was clearing resting on the British man's jacket.

He turned around in confusion and hurt. He turned around and headed for the exit. A million thoughts passed through his mind each one fleeting as soon as it had come, but one thought remained constant. Brooke had cheated on him.

0o0o0o0

Brooke brought her knee up in a swift movement. When she felt her knee connect with the desired target she pushed John back forcefully and moved behind the podium.

"Do not touch me!" she shouted.

John glared up at her as he crouched on the ground. "You ungrateful wench," he cursed through gritted teeth.

"Get out!" Brooke said picking up a stapler ready to hurl it at John's head.

Neil walked into the living room. "Thank you for letting me document a day in the life of Brooklyn Taylor," he told his sister.

Brooke had curled up on the couch as soon as she had gotten home. She looked at her brother and smiled. She rested her head on her arm. "You're welcome."

"Did something happen?" Neil asked.

"Don't worry about it," Brooke said. _Serena, you taught him to read me._ She looked at her phone for the fiftieth time since she got home and frowned. _Spencer, why haven't you called me back? _She picked up the mail Angela had brought her. She pulled out a crisp white envelope and looked at the clean handwriting. The sender was a P.O. Box in Georgetown.

She opened the envelope and found several pages inside. On top was a simple typed up letter in the form of a poem.

_Brooklyn,_

_It appears I have found the perfect poem for you._

_In this world full of hurt and pain,_

_I need someone who would help me through the rain._

_To comfort me when I'm sad,_

_Doing everything just to make me glad._

_In this world I need a Brave __**Knight**__,_

_Who would never give up any fight._

_A __**knight**__ who would dry away my tears,_

_Telling me to overcome my fears._

_A __**knight**__ who loves me for who I am inside,_

_With him there's nothing more I need to hide._

_A person who will still be standing strong,_

_Even though everything has gone wrong._

_I need someone who is willing to give me more,_

_Someone I can call my __**Knight**__ in Shining Armor._

_**So tell me Brooklyn, what happens if he isn't there to save you?**_

_Your Loving Friend,_

_Maestro _

Brooke ran for the bathroom and slammed the door. The letter and pictures of dead bodies fell on the tiled floor of the bathroom as she dry heaved next to the toilet.

Neil knocked lightly on the door. "Brooke, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she moaned.

Brooke looked at the door when she heard the doorbell. "Neil, tell whoever it is to get lost."

Brooke looked at the floor as she began to cry. She heard the front door open and incoherent speech. There was a knock on the bathroom door a minute later.

"Brooklyn, I'm coming in," a familiar British accent stated from the other side of the door.

Brooke moved so that she was leaning against the wall hugging her knees. She sobbed slightly as she looked up at her friend and former co-worker.

"He's back," she choked out. "That bastard is back."

Matthew's sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around the youngest member of his team. He picked up the letter and his jaw tightened as he saw the last sentence. He kissed the top of her head before speaking. "Brooklyn, he's in D.C."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well that was fun. So a little relationship trouble between Spencer and Brooke and a new enemy for the BAU and Interpol. I can't wait to write this next chapter. There's going to be a couple of plot twists and turns. So stay tuned.

Now, what I need from you guys. I need to see some reviews. I've been writing a lot and I need to know what you guys like and do not like. I love hearing from you guys. As a writer of fanfiction, I write mostly for myself first and foremost. However, that does not mean that I don't like seeing reviews for my chapters. I absolutely love reviews. They let me (the writer) know what you (the reader) like to see in the story. So, when I see that over fifty people have read my latest chapter, and no one has reviewed, I can't help but feel like I've disappointed you in some way. I won't know this until you tell me. So don't be shy about your opinions. I take all reviews seriously and I hope that you'll all let me know if I've crossed some sort of unseen line with the plot.

Check out my updates on my profile to see what's going on. If I have to postpone the posting of a chapter, it will be written there.

Ren


	17. Chapter 16

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: Well this chapters shout outs go to **__**BookwormStrawberry**__** and my in person reviewer **__**Locachicade**__**. Thank you for telling me what you think about the chapters I put out there. I hope you enjoy the next part below. So for everyone else. Submit a review get a shout out and a reply to your review. **_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Sixteen:

Reid was lying on his bed, trying to sort his thoughts. His bed was one of his many "thinking spots". A place where he could relax his body and let his mind go. In college, he spent many nights thinking about his life and his work with the university.

There was a knock on has front door. He sat up slowly and looked towards his own bedroom door. He fell back on the mattress, hoping that whoever it was would just leave. He wanted to be left alone, so much so that he turned his phone off three hours ago.

"Reid open up," Morgan's voice boomed through the door. "I know you're in there."

Reid rolled off the bed and stood up lazily. He walked down the small hallway and wrenched open his front door. "What!" he asked irritated.

Morgan raised an eyebrow to Reid's outburst. He placed his hands on the sides of the door jam. "What's going on Reid? You aren't answering your phone and you didn't come back to the BAU after your lecture at Georgetown," Morgan asked. "What happened?"

"It's nothing," Reid said turning around and heading into his apartment allowing Morgan to follow him in. Reid planted himself on the couch.

"Reid you know you can talk to me. Were you able to see Brooke today?" Morgan asked knowing that his relationship with her had been taken to a new level.

"I don't want to talk about her," Reid muttered crossing his arms and pouting like a small child.

"Come on Reid, what happened," Morgan pushed.

Reid cave in. "I saw her kissing her ex-fiancé earlier today," he answered. "She's been cheating on me," he muttered bitterly.

"What?" Morgan asked. "Are you sure?"

"I know it was her," Reid stated firmly. How could Morgan doubt him?

"But she hates her ex," Morgan said confused. Why would she cheat on Reid? He sat on the coffee table and looked at his teammate and friend.

Reid looked out his patio door at the D.C . scene. "No, she told me that there was a part of her that still loves him," he answered.

Morgan's phone rang and he answered it on the second ring after looking at the display. "Yeah," he said. "I've got him." He looked at Reid. "We've got a case. It's local, so don't worry about a go bag."

Reid nodded happy for a distraction from Brooke. He stood up and followed Morgan out of the apartment. Morgan patted a comforting hand on the back as he locked the door. Reid looked at him.

"What should I do?"

"Talk to her about it when you cool down. Right now we need to focus on the case," Morgan answered sticking his hands into his pockets.

Reid nodded. Maybe Brooke could explain why she was kissing John. He trusted her; at least he thought he did.

Morgan and Reid entered the BAU conference room and paused when they found three strangers. Well, Morgan paused in confusion while Reid paused in recognition. He had seen the three gentlemen before in a picture in Brooke's house. Prentiss, Rossi, Garcia, and Seaver sat around the table with the three men.

"Morgan, Reid, meet Signore Tolemei, Jae-Sun Park, and Acker Kaulitz. They're from Interpol," Rossi said gesturing to each individual member.

Signore Tolemei's black curly hair had small bits falling in front of his face as he twirled a small black folder in his hands nervously as he stared at the table. Jae-Sun looked up at the two profilers and gave a friendly wave. He had spikey orange hair and wore a white graphic tee with black jeans with a slight bagginess to them. Acker slouched in his chair in his brown leather jacket and jeans. His brown hair had started to recede only slightly. He grunted by way of greeting the two.

"We're working with Interpol?" Morgan asked taking a file from Garcia.

"Serial Killer's is the BAU's specialty," Jae-Sun shrugged. Like Brooke his Californian accent had melded with a British one. "Matthew's is getting our expert."

"We're waiting for Hotch, Matthews, and Brooklyn," Rossi stated looking at Morgan and Reid. He leaned back in the chair and folded his hands in his lap.

"Brooke doesn't work for Interpol," Reid said taking a seat next to Seaver. He pulled his bag off his shoulder and set it on top of the table and took a file.

"She started profiling for us again a month ago," Signore Tolemei said, his perfect English clashing with his melodic Italian accent. "This is also Brooklyn's case. Serial killer and liars are her area of expertise."

Seaver flipped through the pages of the file. "We're going after an international serial killer?" she asked.

Acker shook his head. "He's not just some serial killer," he spoke bitterly. "He has the ability to make you question all that is good in the world."

"Maestro stopped killing two years ago," Reid said looking at the Interpol team.

Hotch came in and looked around. "Where are Brooke and James?" he asked.

Rossi shook his head. The speaker phone rang and Rossi leaned forward and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Rossi," Matthew's voice came though the line. "Brooklyn and I are stuck in traffic."

"Brooklyn, you profile Maestro when you first got the case. What did you come up with?" Rossi asked.

There was a pause on the line and the group heard Brooke take a deep breath. "Maestro doesn't stick to one killing method, making it hard to pin an accurate profile down, but he's well educated in poisons, human anatomy, his knowledge is expansive, basically he's a genius."

"Are you praising his work?" Reid asked looking at the phone with narrow eyes.

The group looked at him. Did he sound angry?

"No, I'm trying to say that he's an extremely intelligent master of all things evils and unholy," Brooke snapped. "And a narcissist to boot. Does that clear things up DR. Reid?" she asked.

Reid's eyes widened in shock. This wasn't the same Brooke he was dating.

"Sounds like someone's had quite a bad day," Acker laughed slightly.

"Brooklyn, please watch your tone, we need to work with these people," they heard Matthews say.

"Maybe he should have answered his bloody phone," Brooke's voice crackles over the line.

"You shouldn't have been kissing John," Reid countered.

Garcia let out a small gasp at his statement, while Prentiss looked at Morgan for some sort of confirmation. They looked at the phone while the line was quiet.

"Spencer Reid, you are the biggest plonker on the face of the planet," Brooke said resorting to her English insults, hurt evident in her tone.

Jae-Sun looked at the phone and started chattering in Korean excitedly, his face contorted in confusion. Brooke answered back just as quickly and Jae-Sun threw his hands up in frustration, just as Acker started mumbling in German. Signore Tolemei shook his head in embarrassment. His team obviously the most focused.

"Both of you," he began, "Get a hold of yourselves. Brooklyn, please continue with your profile."

"I profiled him as a white male in his late thirties. He's probably had some sort of medical training. He only receives a small release from his kills," Brooke continued, "He gets real pleasure from taunting the authorities. Focus on people from central Europe, the killing started in Amsterdam."

"Thank you Brooke," Hotch spoke his jaw tight. "Why don't you and Matthew's visit the crime scene in the warehouse district." He suggested.

"Okay," Brooke answered.

Hotch leaned over and hung up the phone.

"I'll meet them there," Signore Tolemei stated quickly. "Acker, why don't you stay here and work with the BAU by providing information on the bombs that Maestro has used."

Acker grunted in indifference as he leaned back in his chair.

"And you my K-pop friend," Garcia smiled at Jae-Sun as she stood up. "Will be helping me with the searches right?"

Jae-Sun stood up and grabbed his laptop which had been decorated with several surf logo stickers. "Let's get this over with. Maestro's been a real pain in the ass."

"What have you found so far?" Garcia asked as they left the room.

Hotch looked at Reid, worried. "Are you going to be able to work with Brooke?" he asked planting his hands on the table firmly as he looked down at the genius. Reid didn't answer and Hotch straightened. "Morgan, take Seaver with you to meet the Interpol team at the crime scene. Reid and Prentiss, work with Kaulitz, while getting the profile ready to present to the police and other agents. Rossi and I will go speak with the coroner. We'll meet back here in three hours."

Rossi stood up and looked at Hotch. "Give me a minute," he said as he pulled out his cell phone and headed towards his office after getting a nod from Hotch.

0o0o0o0

Matthews slid his gaze over to Brooke. She had leaned her head against the cold window and sniffed. Her eyes had started to tear up slightly, but she quickly blinked them away. Matthew sighed, he had been married for almost twenty years and he had a sixteen year old son as a result, but he was hardly an expert on women. He looked back at the road as they made their way to the Virginia coast.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"I reckon I don't," Brooke answered crossing her arms in a futile attempt to protect herself.

"So you started dating your best friend," Matthews began. "I thought you hated doing that. You've know Dr. Reid for ten years right?"

Brooke nodded. "It just happened Matthews. Then John showed up and ruined everything. The buggar should have stayed in England where he belongs."

"So you did kiss him," Matthews said looking at her.

"No, he kissed me after putting me in a position I couldn't escape from. Spencer most likely came in during the middle of the kiss and left before my knee met John's family jewels."

Matthews snorted. "I would have paid money to see that. Why don't you just tell Dr. Reid what happened?"

"It's not that simple Matthews," Brooke answered. She started messing with her Stanford pendant. "Spencer, he doesn't take betrayal easily. His father left when he was a boy, and he still hasn't completely forgiven him. Even after a proper explanation was given. He wasn't very happy when Gideon left either. He thinks I cheated on him. I'll be lucky if he even speaks to me."

"You can always move back to England, you know run away from the entire thing," Matthews spoke. "Just like you did after your mother was about to force you to leave a promising career behind to deal with a woman completely lost in her dementia."

"I like my job at the University," Brooke stated. "And I didn't run away. I simply made a choice that was frowned upon by my family."

"You've been back in the states for six months. Why haven't you done the one thing you came back here to do?" Matthews asked.

Brooke glared slightly at the older man. "I started dating Spencer," she said. "I never told him I was still profiling for you. He'll be angry."

"Two cases have required a profile," Matthews stated making a U-turn. "I hardly think that matters."

"Spencer and I tell each other everything," Brooke said matter-of-factly as she rested her chin in an open hand.

"And yet, you still have yet to tell him about what happened two years ago," Matthews said. "For someone you obviously care about, you sure are keeping a lot from him."

"Can we please stop talking about Spencer?" Brooke asked her eyes watering up once more.

"You need to learn to open up to those who care about you," Matthew lectured. "Serena and Rossi won't be around forever."

Brooke swallowed and looked down. "It's hard," she said.

"But you have always accepted a new challenge."

0o0o0o0

An hour later Morgan, Seaver, and Signore Tolemei met Brooke and Matthews in front of a renovated warehouse. It had been turned into a factory for cheap children's toys in the eighties, but had since been shut down due to health concerns that arose from defective toys. A guard was patrolling the building when he found the mutilated bodies of three women.

Everyone was in warm wool coats. Brooke had wrapped a white scarf around her neck and wore a pair of black gloves to keep her warm. Seaver was also wrapped up in a scarf and wore gloves over her thin fingers.

Matthews was leaning nonchalantly against the driver's side door as the three other agents walked over making fresh footprints in the light snow fall. Brooke jogged over to Signore Tolemei and wrapped her long arms around him in a tight hug.

"Bon giorno Brooklyn," he greeted. He looked over at Morgan and Seaver and turned back to his teammate. "Gli americani sono arrabbiato con te," he chattered quickly. (A/N: The Americans are mad at you.)

"Sono amici intimi di Spencer. Non si preoccupi," Brooke smiled. "E 'bello vederti amico di vecchia data." (A/N: They're close friends of Spencer. Don't worry about it. It's good to see you old friend.)

"What are you saying?" Seaver asked suspiciously as she clapped her hands together to generate some heat.

Matthews walked up. "They're greeting each other, and Brooke just said that your two are close to Dr. Reid," he explained. "Let's get out of the cold. Then you profilers can do your thing."

"We could have done this without Brooke," Morgan stated somewhat bitterly.

"Seaver doesn't actually belong her either," Brooke countered. "After all she's still just a cadet."

"Brooklyn, I have this for you," Signore Tolemei said reaching into his pea coat. He pulled out the same black folder he was messing with earlier and handed it to Brooke.

Matthews looked at it and headed towards the building. "Take care of it," he called.

Brooke opened the folder as she began walking towards the factory door and found her credential, but they were missing the red stamp that claimed she was no longer an active agent of Interpol. She looked up at Matthews back. "I don't get it, I quit."

"No, Jae-Sun fixed that. You're still a member of my team. We talked with your University. You're on loan to them. You will teach classes, live, and have a social life in D.C, but you profile for me and in instances where I need your physical body. You will come," Matthews explained.

"Why wasn't I made aware of this?" Brooke asked.

"It's all been hush hush. The University pays you more than Interpol will, but you will still get money," Matthews smiled.

"You make me sound like property," Brooked stated sourly, but a small smiled made its way onto her lips.

Matthews opened the door and the group entered what could only be the reception area. Chairs had been placed in a corner for anyone who needed to wait and a reception desk sat empty. The room was covered in cobwebs and dust from non-use. The building still maintained some of its metal support beams from the time it was a warehouse. The building creaked and moaned slightly as it was hit with a bought of wind.

Matthews pulled open a door and they entered a long hallway. "The bodies were found in the last room on the left."

Brooke and Signore Tolemei took the lead and headed down the hallway looking at the dusty photos and artwork on the walls. Brooke pushed open the last door and held it open for the others to prevent it from swinging shut on them.

They appeared to be in the cafeteria/break room of sorts. Dusty tables had been place all around the rooms and dead vending machines were lined up against the far wall next to another door.

"So he brought the women here," Morgan said walking farther into the room. He stopped in front of a table that had barely been cleaned of blood.

"He tortured them and then proceeded to stab them multiple times in places that wouldn't kill them," Seaver spoke crossing the room as she paced her way along the wall looking around, taking in the entire scene.

"He paralyzed them with a battery of drugs," Brooke said pulling her file out of her messenger bag. She flipped though they pages. "Only when he was done stabbing them and causing the maximum amount of pain, did he shoot them in the head with a nine millimeter."

"Why this place?" Matthews asked standing next to Signore Tolemei.

"It's private. Even if the women had been able to scream, nobody would have heard them. He only picks places like this when he needs time with his victims," Morgan explained.

"Should Jae-Sun and the FBI's analyst be looking into large abandoned buildings?" Signore Tolemei asked.

Brooke nodded. "It wouldn't hurt. I don't see Maestro leaving D.C anytime soon."

"Why not?" Seaver asked. "Your reports say he moved quickly."

"I'm here," Brooke answered touching her bag, Maestro's letter hidden inside.

Matthews looked at his phone. "No service," he grunted. "I'm going to call Jae-Sun." he left the room and the door slammed shut.

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked thinking something had been left out.

Brooked walked around the room not answered. Signore Tolemei looked at the tall profiler. "Maestro considers Brooke to be his exact opposite," he explained. "Brooke's belief system is on the other side of the scale when compared to Maestro's. She's also the one who profiled him first."

There was a loud click and the four of them turned to the door. Seaver walked over to the door and pulled the handle. She pulled harder when the door didn't budge.

"What's going on?' Signore Tolemei asked his face creasing in worry.

"The doors jammed," she said pulling harder.

A hissing sound came from the vents above Brooke's head and she backed away quickly and moved to the other end of the room. She pulled out her cellphone but kicked the wall in anger.

"Move," Morgan said pushing Seaver to the side. After all he had strength on his side. He pulled harshly at the door, but once again it didn't budge.

There was a banging on the other side and muffled shouts. All four agents began to cough and covered their mouths and noses.

A minute later all for were sprawled on the ground unconscious. The door on the opposite side of the room opened and a man dressed in all black came in, his face covered by a full gas mask. He let out a muffled chuckle and looked at the front door as the banging persisted.

He went around to each agent removing their guns and credentials. He grabbed Brooke's messenger bag and dropped it on an empty table. He displayed each person's credentials and Ashley's cadet badge on the table. Once he was satisfied with the setup he began dragging the bodies out the opposite door.

0o0o0o0

Matthews heard a click on the door and he pulled out his gun before walking into the room once more. He looked around at the empty room and froze when he saw everyone's personal items displayed.

0o0o0o0

Hotch, Rossi, and Matthews came storming into the conference room, startling Reid from his thoughts. He looked up from the map he was working on at the three fuming agents and became worried. Prentiss stood up and looked at them.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Acker turned in his chair and noted his superior's tense jaw and clenched fists.

"Maestro knew we would visit the crime scene. He ambushed Morgan, Seaver, Signore Tolemei, and Brooklyn," Rossi explained as he paced the room.

"Are they okay?" Acker asked leaning forward.

Garcia came in quickly followed by Jae-Sun. Reid sat up in his seat. Ambushed? We're they hurt?

"My boy is missing?" Garcia asked. She held a laptop firmly in her hands.

"Wait, Maestro grabbed Brooke," Jae-Sun spoke. "How could you let this happen Matthews?"

Matthews slammed his fist hard against the wood table. "I'm getting really tired of this miscreant always having the upper hand!" he roared.

Garcia's laptop began to beep wildly and she looked at it in confusion. She paled when a video popped up on the small screen. She synced the laptop to their interactive TV and the group looked at video of their teammates locked in a room.

_The four agents had been locked in a room and their wool coats had been removed. Signore Tolemei was busy trying to wake Brooke up while Morgan shook Seaver's shoulder._

_Brooke began to moan and rolled onto her stomach. "What the bloody hell happed?" she asked lifting herself up._

"_Maestro drugged and kidnapped up," Seaver stated sitting up._

_Tolemei helped Brooke up to her feet and wrapped a supportive arm around her waist. They watched as Morgan began to pace the room angrily. "Don't you mean Matthews?" Morgan asked as he kicked a concrete wall._

_Brooke's dazed eyes turned into a hard glare. "Excuse me?" she grinded out._

"_He was the only one not in the room. I bet he never even called your analyst." Morgan stated._

"But he did call me," Jae-Sun said. "Ten minutes later I got another call from him."

_Brooke slipped out of Tolemei's support. "Don't you dare accuse him of being a serial killer," she growled. "For all we know it could have been Hotch too, but I don't see you blaming him."_

"_It makes sense that Matthews could have done it," Seaver said leaning against a wall_

"_Like hell it does!" Brooke shouted. "Matthews doesn't even fit the profile."_

"_Profiles can be wrong," Morgan stated as he turned to face her. "We all know that."_

_Brooke stomped over to the tall agent and swiftly punched him in the gut. Morgan bent over and started coughing._

"What the hell was that for?" Prentiss asked.

"_You don't know Matthews like Signore and I do. Don't you ever accuse someone you don't know," she stated pushing him back a foot._

_Tolemei wringed his hands in worry. "Matthews is the one who put our team together. He also hates Maestro just as much as Brooke does."_

"What does Signore Tolemei mean by that?" Hotch asked looking hard at Matthews.

Matthews crossed his arms defensively. "Nothing."

"_While we're stuck here," Morgan coughed out. "Why did you cheat on Reid?"_

_Brooke clenched her fist and glared at him. "I didn't cheat on Spencer!" she yelled nostrils flaring up like a bull ready to charge._

"_He saw you," Morgan said meeting her glare with his own._

"_Well he didn't stay long enough to see me knee the wretched man in the jewels and then threaten to throw a stapler at his bloody head," Brooke spat out._

"_You say that," Seaver said. "You could be lying." She crossed her arms to keep herself warm and began rubbing her arms._

"_Why would I cheat on Spencer with the man that cheated on me?" Brooked asked placing her hand firmly on her hips. "Who in their right minds would find that a logical choice. Especially after all the hell John put me through."_

"_Oh yeah," Morgan challenged taking a step towards her. "Why don't you explain it to me?"_

"_I shouldn't have to explain things to you," Brooke said taking a step back._

"_Reid is my friend," Morgan stated taking another step. "I'll be dammed if I let you hurt him, so yes; I deserve some sort of explanation."_

"_Please Agent Morgan, just leave it alone," Tolemei pleaded blocking his path to Brooke. He looked at Brooke, "You need to calm down."_

"_Un-flippin-believable," she sighed. "I'm not telling you anything."_

"_What have you been hiding from Reid?" Morgan pressed his patience wearing thin._

"_Agent Morgan, please, I'm begging you," Tolemei stated. "You must leave this alone."_

"_I don't have-"Brooke began her face contorting in distress and fear._

"_I thought you and Reid trusted each other," Morgan shouted. "Where is that trust now?"_

"_I was pregnant!" Brooke shouted back backing into a wall as she burst into tears. _

_Signore Tolemei looked at Brooke and moved in front of her wrapping his arms around her letting her cry._

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: And that folks is where I shall end this chapter. A great cliffhanger if I do say so myself. Not really, but I thought it appropriate to explain more in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. I like writing it and I worked on it all day today. So I gave myself some decent props.

The next chapter is going to be critical to the development of Brooke's character. Obviously there are still some things that are not clear about her move back to the states. You may be surprised. Maybe not. Anyway you really won't want to miss the next chapter of this arc.

Now, it's your turn. Drop me a review telling me what you think. Did you like the chapter? Did you want more? Just let me know. If you hated it, I won't get upset I promise. Just tell me how I can do better in a polite way.

Talk to all of y'all soon.

Ren


	18. Chapter 17

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: This weeks shout outs go to **__**BookwormStrawberry**__**, **__**ally leigh**__**, **__**Habaeus Diem**__**, and**__** softballgal93**__** for their great reviews. A very special thanks to Habaeus Diem, who has been helping me improve my writing. I'm eternally grateful. A thank you to my in person reader **__**locachicade**__**, who's praise and criticism is always welcome. **_

_**Enjoy the chapter.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Seventeen:

"Did she just say she was pregnant?" Garcia asked her eyes wide in shock.

Reid watched as Rossi and Matthews exchanged a knowing glance, while Jae-Sun and Acker began speaking quietly. Hotch looked at Rossi.

"You knew about this?" he asked.

"I'm her godfather," Rossi said. "Of course I knew about this. She was supposed to tell Reid, but he was in the hospital because of the _flu_ he had gotten."

"That was two years ago,' Garcia said. "What happened?" she looked at Reid to find his face frozen in confusion and disbelief. She reached over and placed a hand over his comfortingly.

"_I had only found out about it after I caught John cheating on me," Brooke explained as she rubbed her eyes trying to get her emotions under control. "I was only six weeks pregnant. I didn't want John to have anything to do with the baby, so I only told Matthews, Uncle Dave, and Serena. I wouldn't have told Matthews if it wasn't for the fact that he was my superior and he needed to know. I wanted to tell Spencer, but I didn't know how. He never really liked John. That should have been my first clue."_

"I limited Brooke's role in the field. I only sent her to crime scenes with another member of the ream," Matthews explained as he shook his head. "We got the Maestro case a month later." He clenched his fist as he remembered the event that almost broke Brooke.

"_Did you put the baby up for adoption?" Seaver asked. "You obviously don't have a child."_

_Brooke shook her head. "It was supposed to be a simple trip. Go to the last crime scene, and add to the profile. We weren't any closer to finding Maestro, so I went with Signore Tolemei to look at the scene. Maestro- he knew we would go back," Brooke began, her bottom lip trembling as her eyes teared up once more. She sat on the ground and buried her face in her knees._

"_I don't remember everything. Just a bright flash," she said a minute later looking up. "The next thing I know, I was on the ground with this excruciating pain in my abdomen."_

"She miscarried," Prentiss said. "It was a bomb."

"It was a simple, yet effective IED," Acker explained. "Luckily, both Brooke and Tolemei received minor injuries."

"Brooke lost her baby," Jae-Sun countered almost glaring at his teammate. "How is that a minor injury?"

"She was in the hospital for two days. She could have left after one, but she had a major concussion. She was only ten weeks into her pregnancy," Acker defended.

"Stop arguing," Matthews barked. "Jae-Sun are you tracking the signal?"

"Garcia and I are trying tom but it's bouncing all over world through several proxy servers in six different continents. It's hard to pin down," Jae-Sun said. He started typing on Garcia's laptop.

"Find a way to track it," Hotch ordered. His agents were being held captive by a serial killer.

"I'll find a repeated pattern and go from there," Garcia said. She looked up at the screen and frowned slightly. "Hang on my pets; we're going to find you."

The room grew quiet as Garcia worked her magic. Jae-Sun left the room to get his own laptop. Reid stared at Brooke's small curled up figure on the TV. Why hadn't she told him?

"_And you never told Reid?" Morgan said leaning against the cold metal wall._

"_I tried to, but he was in the hospital," Brooke answered. "I lost the baby todays before he was let out. I decided not to tell him, because it would mean living that day all over again."_

"_What happened after that?" Seaver asked. "With you moving to D.C., did you ever think that you could keep something like that hidden?"_

_Tolemei sat next to Brooke and wrapped an arm around her as she began to shiver._

"_I would have stayed in England if I had family there," she answered. "I lasted a year and a half after losing the baby. I left Interpol because for the first time since joining, I wanted something it couldn't give."_

_Brooke had made a career with her insight into the human mind, but unfortunately it left her longing for her family. So when the University job offer came in, she came up with a plan. A plan that she only shared with three people._

"_I wanted a baby," Brooke sniffed. "I was going to go to a clinic, you know find a donor."_

_Morgan whipped his head to look at Brooke. "Have you been trying to have a baby with Reid?"_

_Brooke looked up her eyes full of sadness. "I wouldn't do that to him. I've been on birth control since we started dating," she answered quietly. "He doesn't want children."_

"_Did you ever ask him?" Seaver asked. How could Brooke know what Reid wanted?_

"_I've known Spencer longer than you," Brooke stated angrily. "We talked about a lot of things in the ten years we've been friends. He's afraid of passing on any sort of genetically linked mental illness."_

Jae-Sun continued pounding on his laptop. "That's right Maestro, follow me, while my female counterpart back hacks you into the next century," he smirked. He used a simple method to lure Maestro into following his IP address.

The TV screen went blank and Prentiss looked at the busy computer geniuses. "What happened?"

"Jae-Sun switched out IP addresses, well, more like he's given it a new name. It's still the same but it doesn't come up that way. Maestro has to try and find it once more to continue the feed. So, while Jae-Sun keeps him busy, I'm using a bit of the source code to track him."

Matthews looked at the blank screen. Were his team members' okay? What were they doing? _I'm going to kill him, _he thought.

Rossi stood up and left the room. Garcia would out where the streaming feed originated, and then they would save the four agents. His only problem was telling Serena that once again, he had let Brooklyn walk in potentially dangerous situation.

He walked into his office and sank into his chair tiredly. _She's never going to forgive me this time._

Reid came into the office and stiffly stood in front of the senior agent's desk. "You've known about everything," he said.

Rossi looked at the young agent. "I'm her godfather, so yes, I did know about everything," he answered calmly. He sensed that there was more to come from the prodigy, so he waited for Reid to continue.

Reid licked his lips, wishing, and craving, something to make the emotional pain go away. He didn't like the feeling of being left out of a major part of Brooke's life. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked harshly.

"It wasn't my place to tell you," Rossi said. "Brooklyn, she cares about you, but she's not ready to share such a vulnerable part of herself quite yet. Have you told her everything?"

_No,_ he admitted to himself. Brooke didn't know he was an addict. She only knew that he had been drugged. He couldn't tell her. She avoided addicts like she avoided the plague. Telling her about her short lived drug abuse would be the same thing as saying good-bye.

"She wanted to tell you," Rossi spoke resting his elbows on the arms of his chair. "You heard her; you were in the hospital recovering from anthrax."

0o0o0o0

Brooke rubbed her arms to stay warm. Her white flannel was only supposed to be one layer of warmth. Tolemei blew into his hand and rubbed them together quickly. Morgan and Seaver stood together talking quietly.

Morgan slid his gaze over to Brooke and couldn't help but wonder if Brooke knew everything about Reid. Did she really want to know? Reid was the member of the group who everybody looked out for. The entire team had known what he had gone through. Morgan saw Reid as a brother in arms and in spirit. And as everyone knew, you never messed with Derek Morgan's family. Now, he just had to decide. Was Brooke going to hurt his brother?

The familiar hissing sound of a gas sedative echoed in the room and the dark disguised voice of Maestro came over a hidden speaker. The four captives covered their mouths with their hands, but it provided little protection from the fumes.

"_**Congratulations, you four are going to be a part of my last stand."**_

Everyone looked around trying to identify the speaker's location, but the cold metal walls made a perfect environment for echoes.

Brooke started to cough uncontrollably. Tolemei looked over at her panicked. It appeared that she couldn't cover her mouth as well as the others were able to. He clamped his free hand over her mouth just as she slumped over.

"_**And only one of you will have a special seat."**_

Morgan inwardly cursed as his vision began to blur. _What does he mean by last stand?_

0o0o0o0

Rossi stood up when Anderson led Serena into his office. With a nod the agent left the woman in Rossi's care. She had a deep frown on her face and her eyes held deep worry.

"David, you better start explaining," she stated curtly. "What do you mean Spencer and Brooke are fighting?"

"John forced Brooklyn into a kiss. Reid saw it and thought she was cheating on him," Rossi answered. "That's the least of our worries at the moment. Maestro abducted four agents. Brooklyn was one of them."

Serena paled. "Oh god," she muttered sinking into a chair. "She's not dead is she?" she asked.

"We don't know," Rossi replied.

Serena snapped her head up. Her eyes narrowed in anger. It was one thing if he knew what had become of Brooke, but he didn't know. That bothered the woman more than anything. She stood up sharply. "Find out David Rossi or so help me, the next killer your team will be looking for," she threatened pointing a sharp finger at him. "Is me. Brooklyn is the closest thing to a daughter I have and I will not lose her to some freak like Maestro!" she shouted.

Rossi held up his hand in an appeasing manner. "Serena, we're doing everything we can," he told her. "We'll find them, and then Brooklyn will be in your arms once more."

"She better," the woman warned. "I'm a level headed woman most days, but even you know I'm hell on earth when my babies are in trouble. Before, when the siblings were taken, I knew they'd be okay. Maestro's another ball park. He almost destroyed Brooklyn. I won't see him do that again."

Serena was a confidant, mediator, a surrogate mother, and a woman scorned. She refused to believe that her niece would die before her. None of her babies would. They all still had futures, even if hers herself was running short.

"Serena, you need to calm down," Rossi said. "Going into cardiac arrest wouldn't be good for you."

Serena took a deep breath. "Where is Spencer?" she asked.

"In the conference room, you shouldn't go in there though," he said as he stood up to close his door. "The white boards are covered in crime scene photos."

Serena raised an eyebrow. "Then call Spencer in here," she stated. She sat calmly in the chair once more and stared at her friend unwavering.

"What are you going to do?" Rossi asked. Knowing Serena, she was probably going to interrogate him until he broke down.

"I just want to talk to him," Serena answered nonchalantly.

"Can I ask why?" Dave asked leaning back in his seat.

"I just want to know why he would ever think Brooklyn would cheat on him."

"We aren't perfect beings. Brooklyn still holds feeling for John," Rossi said. "Reid may be the most rational of the group, but even he can be thrown for a loop. We're human, we have flaws."

There was a knock on the Rossi's door before Hotch opened it. "Garcia's got something."

Rossi stood up and looked at his old friend who threw him a piercing stare. "Serena, it's probably best if I have Anderson take you to Brooke's condo. Or, I can have him take you to Brian's bar where Brooke took Neil."

Serena looked out the window. "Find her David," she said.

Rossi nodded before leaving the room. He followed Hotch into the conference room where an aerial view of a large complex had been set up on the television screen.

"I tracked the signal to this building," Garcia began. "It was an old packaging plant that shut down a couple years ago. It was bought recently by this man."

A picture popped up on the screen to show a man in his late thirties. His thick brown hair had begun to recede and pulled away from his blue eyes. He had slight wrinkles around the forehead and a slight frown. The name under the picture labeled him as Mikael Lichtenberger.

"Lichtenberger has been making some renovations to the plant, which includes but is not limited to a pool, steel fire proof doors and a high level security system. I'm still tracking his purchases," Jae-Sun said looking up from his computer screen.

"How do you know it's him?" Matthews asked.

Was this man responsible for the deaths of at least fifty people? Why was it always the harmless looking ones that did the most harm to society?

"He owns businesses throughout Europe, four of them in countries where there were known Maestro victims," Garcia answered. She hit a key and a picture of a young Nazi soldier stared out at the group. "That's Lichtenberger's grandfather."

"His grandmother moved to France after her husband nearly beat her to death. She took her son with her. Twenty years later, he welcomed little baby Mikael into the world," Jae-Sun said. "Mikael is the son of an heiress and therefore inherited the entire family company five years ago when she died. He became the head of a multi-million dollar consulting firm."

"What kind of consulting firm?" Matthews asked. There were many typed of consultations. Brooke was an expert in at three areas.

"Politics, Science, Food, Drugs, Psychology, you name it, they have an expert under their employment," Garcia said pulling up the company's main website. Fleur Consulting Co. headed the web page proudly.

"Are we sure that our agents are in the building?" Hotch asked placing his hands on the table and leaning forward. They couldn't afford to be wrong, not with four agents on the line and a potential law suit.

Jae-Sun typed quickly and brought up two separate thermal scans. One was a frozen still while the other was a live feed. "The one on the left was when we were watching Brooke's confession. The video is what's going on now."

"Four people in one part of the complex, but now they're separate?" Prentiss asked. "There's a fifth now."

Reid pointed to the top right of the video. "There are two people in that room, but one's not moving."

"Maestro?" Rossi asked.

Hotch pointed to the thermal signature that wasn't moving. "That figure is colder than the other, and they look like they haven't moved," he pointed to the opposite end of the building. "There's someone pacing, and then a thermal signature over something really cold."

Hotch straightened up and looked at the group. "I'm going to call in a tactical team."

0o0o0o0

Maestro spun in a desk chair so that he was facing away from the black monitors. He looked at the restrained Brooke and smiled. She glared at him and growled through her Duct tape. He had handcuffed her hands behind her back and shackled her feet together.

"Oh, come on Brooklyn, don't look at me with such contempt," he laughed. He pulled a small souvenir keychain from his pants pocket and hung it off his right index finger and examined the piece of cheap metal. It was a circle that held a smaller revolving circle on the inside. The outer rim read LAS VEGAS NEVADA.

Brooke's eyes widened. _Spencer's key chain, how did he get that?_ She started to fight against her restraints but failed to break free.

"Let's see if your Vegas Knight is everything you hope he is," Maestro smiled is long finger closing around the simple keychain.

He turned his chair back to the monitors and hit the enter tab of his keyboard. They lit up to reveal three rooms. Seaver paced nervously in one empty room, while Signore Tolemei was strung up helpless above a pool. He swung his legs occasionally to indicate life. Morgan sat on a chair attached to a bomb. He pulled at the ropes that held him in the chair fiercely.

"Let the games begin," Maestro smiled.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: So here is chapter seventeen. I hope you enjoyed it. I've been super busy with school, but I'm glad I was able to get this out. I'm actually in the middle of rewriting the earlier chapters. I was told I wasn't very good with the details and that most chapters were conversations, so I'm going in and fixing them. Check them out if you so desire. The story line won't change; it's just better writing to give the reader an idea of what's going on.

Ren


	19. Chapter 18

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: So there are only one shout out for this chapter, so here we go. Thank you **__**BookwormStrawberry**__**. I do so appreciate your consistent reviews. They make me smile all the time. **_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Eighteen:

Reid sat in the back of the SUV as they headed towards Lichtenberger's packaging plant. He held his keys in his hands and ran a thumb over a simple keychain. It was a silver 'B' with an etching of the golden gate bridge. Above the bridge were the floating initials S.F.

_*Ten Years Ago*_

_Spencer and Brooke sat the airport in the middle of two boarding gates. On the left side a sign designated the gate for travel to San Jose, while the gate on the right was going to LAX._

"_Hey Spencer," Brooke spoke quietly. She had her head bent down as she picked at her nails._

"_Yes?" he asked looking at her._

"_Thank you," she said turning her head up. She smiled. "For showing me around and everything else you did."_

_He paused for a moment trying to find the right response. "You're welcome."_

_Brooke rummaged through her bag and pulled out a set of keys. She pulled a keychain off and held it out to him. "Here, you can give it back to me if and when you make your way up to the Bay Area."_

"_Why?" Reid asked looking at the keychain in confusion._

"_I've had a lot of friends who have simply lost touch. At least if you put the keychain on your key ring, then you're reminded of me. The young relatable genius you met in Vegas," Brooke explained._

_Reid pulled his keys out and slipped the cheap souvenir onto his ring before pulling a Vegas keychain off. He held it out for her to take. "It only seems fair," he said._

_Brooke nodded and took it._

"_**Flight to San Jose, now boarding group A**__" a flight attendant stated happily over the intercom. _

_Brooke stood up. "That's me I'll talk to you soon Spencer."_

_Reid nodded and smiled. Brooke pulled her bag over her head and dropped her keys into the open pocket before jogging over to her brother and aunt. She looked back at Spencer and waved._

_He weakly waved back and looked at his new keychain. Depression immediately set in when Brook was gone. "B for Brooklyn," he stated quietly._

Reid put his keys away and looked out the window, thinking about the case and the many possible outcomes. Rossi looked back at him from the passenger seat. Could Reid maintain his cool while they were chasing Maestro?

Hotch has a stiff grip on the steering wheel and a cold gaze on the road. He didn't know the status of his agents. Were they even still alive?

Matthews sat next to Reid. He held the Signore's and Brooke's credentials. Maestro couldn't get away with this a second time. His team relied on him to keep them safe, and again they were at the mercy of Maestro's sick mind.

Acker and Prentiss were in a second SUV headed for the plant. Prentiss was livid, as the agent who claimed responsibility over Seaver; it should have been her who went to the crime scene with her. Not Morgan.

Acker may not have been the most openly emotional when it came to the current predicament his team mates were in, but he was just as worried as Matthews. They had seen firsthand what Maestro could do. Was he torturing Tolemei and Brook the same way he tortured the women from before?

0o0o0o0

Seaver stood in a room with cold metal walls. The doors had been locked with mechanic sliding bars. Her father wasn't like Maestro. At least from what she had seen of Maestro's work, he never killed people the same way her father had.

Morgan was restrained with duct tape. He found it somewhat ironic that he sat on a bomb. A former member of the bomb squad would die because of an explosive device.

Signore Tolemei hated it when he could get himself out of a mess. Particularly this one. He wasn't a man of superior strength. As he dangled over the water there wasn't a way to pull him up, even if he was capable of such a feat. The distance was too far to swing him to safety either.

Brooke sat upright and glared at Maestro's back. She leaned against the concrete wall in exhaustion. Stress could do that to the body, but she and the other weren't out of the woods quite yet and she needed to stay alert.

Maestro turned in his chair and smirked maliciously. "You're friends are in for a wonderful show."

_What do you have planned?_ she thought.

0o0o0o0

The BAU and Interpol ream stood outside the packaging plant. A SWAT team stood nearby ready for the okay. Everyone stood around slipping their bullet proof vests on and checking their weapons.

"Keep someone from SWAT, Interpol, or the BAU in your sights. Maestro likes to separate agents from one another," Matthews warned as he checks his gun for the third time. He hoped and prayed that the four agents inside were okay.

"SWAT will breach the building and then we'll make our way in," Hotch told the few members of his team.

Two minutes later, Hotch, Prentiss, and Acker were making their way down a wide white hallway. They stopped in front of a locked door and looked at the touch screen next to it.

The screen showed a digital board set up in a four by ten grid. Next to the grid were four colored circles: red, blue, green, yellow.

"What is this?" Hotch asked. He touched the screen and a small message blinked slowly.

**Let's play a game of Mastermind**

"Mastermind?" Prentiss asked. "That's a kid's board game."

"What is it?" Acker asked. German board games were different from American board games.

"It's a code breaking game," Prentiss answered. She had played it a few times before with friends. "You place a colored circle in each square of the row. Once you put it together, you're told which ones are the right spot, or right color wrong spot.

Hotch looked around. They didn't really have time to play a game. He tried the door but it didn't budge. A second later there was a banging from the other side.

"Hello? Anybody there?" Seaver's voice came through the door muffled and slightly panicked.

"Seaver?" Emily yelled.

"Emily," Seaver responded. "I'm locked in this room; the others were taken somewhere else."

"They're all in separate areas of the building," Emily answered. She looked at the touch screen and moved a single color to each of the four squares. She hit the enter button and there was an immediate response. Three lines appeared.

_White, white, red._

"What does that mean?" Acker asked.

"The red means that it's in the right spot, white means I need to change the position. Because there are only three lines, it tells me that yellow is not a part of the solution," Prentiss explained as she looked around.

A SWAT agent walked over. "We need to clear the rest of the building," he told Hotch.

The banging on the door resumed, this time rapidly. "Emily! The room is filling with gas."

"What?" Acker asked. Why would the room start filling with gas now?

"Getting the answer wrong must have triggered some sort of release. We have to solve the code to gain access," Prentiss said.

Hotch looked around. He still hadn't heard from anyone about Morgan, Brook, or the Signore. "Agent, stay with Agent Prentiss until she opens this door. Agent Acker and I will clear this part of the building," he told the SWAT agent before following Acker into an empty room.

0o0o0o0

Matthews held his gun up as he ran down a hall opening any door he came across. Rossi and Reid followed him quickly. Rossi moved ahead of Matthews and pulled a sliding door open. His eyes widened in shock when he found the Signore hanging helplessly over a large pool. Matthews and Reid came in and lowered their guns.

"Old friend, how are you doing?" Matthews asked.

Signore Tolemei nodded his head. "I am well. You must find the others. Maestro said this is his last stand."

Matthews looked around and found a small console. He walked over and studied it carefully. He hit a red button and Signore Tolemei plunged into the water. Matthews turned quickly and ran for the water abandoning his gun. "Go try to find the others," he yelled at Rossi. "I'm going to get him out."

Matthews dove into the frigid water as Rossi and Reid made their way across the room and through a door into yet another hallway.

0o0o0o0

Hotch and Acker jogged quickly towards another closed door. Hotch reached out to open the door when Acker pulled him back quickly. "Stop!" the German yelled.

Hotch looked at the man in confusion and surprise. Acker pointed a stiff finger to something above the door.

"It is hooked up to something," Acker stated.

"Hooked up to what?"

"It could be anything really. A security system, a locking mechanism, a bomb-"

"A bomb?" Hotch almost yelled. "Can you disable it?"

"Disconnecting it is easy," Acker smiled. "But I do not know what it is hooked up to on the other side of the door."

This was Acker's game, a guessing game, but a game nonetheless. He took a deep breath before grabbing onto the slightly hidden wires. He pulled it out and let out a sigh of relief when he didn't hear or feel some sort of _Ka-boom_.

0o0o0o0

_Blue, blue, red, green._

_**Red, white, red, white.**_

"Damn it!" Emily cursed smacking her hand against the door in frustration. Seaver had stopped hitting the door a minute ago.

_Blue, green, red, blue._

_**Chirp chirp.**_ There was a click on the other side of the door followed by a heavy sliding _thump_. Prentiss ripped the door open and together with the SWAT agent pulled the unconscious Seaver from the room before kicking the door shut. Prentiss pulled out her radio and spoke into it while she checked Seaver's pulse.

"I've got Seaver, she's unconscious, but I think she'll be okay," she stated.

"I've got Signore Tolemei," Matthew's voice crackled through the line.

0o0o0o0

Acker turned the door knob and pushed the door open slowly. Hotch enter the room and paused when he saw Morgan sitting on top of a sophisticated bomb. Acker carefully walked over and started studying the device.

"We activated a timer," Acker said. "I have five minutes to disarm the bomb."

"Can you do it?" Hotch asked never looking away from Morgan. Right now he needed to stay calm.

Acker started circling the chair. "If we remove Agent Morgan, it will detonate. I have to deactivate it."

Hotch nodded. "Morgan, are you okay?" he asked.

"I've been better," Morgan said. "Maestro said this was his last stand."

Acker stopped circling and looked up at the restrained profiler, confusion taking over his features. "Last stand?"

"I don't know what it means," Morgan replied shaking his head.

Acker crouched down and pulled out a small set of scissors from his coat pocket. "Agent Hotchner, please remove Agent Morgan's restraints. But Agent Morgan, you must not move from the seat. Do you understand?"

Morgan nodded as he started to sweat. "Yeah, I got it man."

0o0o0o0

Reid walked ahead of Rossi and turned to a steel door on his left. Rossi took the door behind him on the right. With a quick nod the two opened the doors at the same time.

Reid walked into what he could only assume was a control room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Brooke wide eyes and shaking her head. Tears had started to well up in her eyes.

The door slammed shut behind Reid and he turned around only to take a blow form Maestro's gun. Maestro slid a deadbolt, locking the door. Rossi started yelling from the other side of the door and hitting it furiously.

Reid had fallen to the ground and his gun skittered across the floor stopping in front of Brooke's shackled feet.

"So this is the noble Dr. Reid," Maestro chuckled. "I have to say, I'm not too impressed with Brooke's Vegas Knight."

"You've kidnapped four agents, you don't possibly think you'll be able to get away," Reid said. His head started to pound. There was no doubt he was going to have a concussion.

"You don't know anything then good doctor," Maestro scoffed. "When I saw your name in Brooklyn's phone two years ago, I was mildly amused. So I did my research. You're quite the accomplished scholar."

Brooke fell on her side and started to pull her legs over her handcuffed wrists. Reid looked over at her in worry and fear.

Maestro moved so that he blocked Reid's view of the struggling Brooke.

"I wonder how emotionally distraught Brooklyn would be if she had to watch me kill her best friend and confidant," Maestro pondered as he leveled his gun towards Reid's head.

Brooke pulled her arms out in front of her and ripped the duct tape off of her mouth before grabbing Reid's gun. She pushed herself up and stood straight before aiming the gun at Maestro's back.

"Maestro!" she shouted.

Reid watched in horror as Maestro whipped around and pointed his gun at Brooke. He felt his blood run cold when both gunmen fired their weapons simultaneously.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well how's that for an ending to a chapter. Anyway, sorry for the wait, I've been super busy with school and finally got over a minor bought of writers block. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I had fun writing it.

So drop me a review letting me know what you think of the chapter. As I have said many times before, I love hearing from you guys.

Ren


	20. Chapter 19

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

_**Shout Outs: So the shout outs for this chapter go to three reviewers. Thank you **__**BookwormStrawberry**__**,**__** ally leigh**__**, and **__**cmwinner**__**. I appreciate your following and I hope you enjoy this next chapter. **_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Nineteen:

Maestro fell onto his back while Brooke was pushed back into the wall. Maestro started to cough up blood and began laughing. Reid snapped out of his slight stupor and ran over to Brook who was putting pressure on her left arm.

"Fuck!" Brook yelled. Tears had started to form in her eyes as she looked at her arm.

"Are you okay?" Reid asked as he tried to touch Brook.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed. She looked at him harshly. "I'm mad at you."

Reid pulled his hand back and looked at Brook helplessly. She was mad at him?

Maestro began laughing harder. "Ah, Brooklyn, I knew it would come to this," he coughed. "Somehow I knew you would be the one to kill me."

"Brooke you've been shot," Reid told her, but she didn't look at him.

"I was only grazed," Brooke explained taking a deep breath to calm herself down. She started into Maestro's eyes. The banging on the door grew louder and she closed her eyes. "Spencer, go open the damn door."

Reid frowned. "Keep pressure on it," he said. He stood up and walked to the steel door and opened it slowly after shouting to Rossi on the other side.

Maestro took his last breath when Brook opened her eyes once more. A cruel smiled remained on his lips causing Brooke to gulp and force her tears back. She moved her hand slightly to look at her arm and winced.

Rossi came running into the room and looked at his goddaughter. "Brooklyn, you've been shot."

"No shit Sherlock," Brooke stated dully. "Get me the hell out of these restraints I want to go home and see Neal."

Rossi nodded looking at the awkward position of her arms as she kept her hand on the wound. "You'll have to go to the hospital," he told her.

"What about everyone else?" she asked.

"They're safe," Reid said from the corner of the room.

Brooke let out a simple sigh. It was all over. Maestro was dead and everyone was okay. All she wanted to do now was curl up on her couch with an expensive glass of wine.

Rossi removed her shackles and cuffs and helped her up. He looked over at the dead Maestro and wished that he had killed the man. Brooke pushed her way out of the room. Reid turned to follow her but stopped when Rossi placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.

"Just leave her be for now Reid," Rossi told the young genius.

"I need to talk to her," Reid said. Every second he spent in the room, Brooke was making her way farther out of the building. He had to make sure she was all right, and they needed to talk about the situation with John.

He looked around the room and saw a flicker of gold on the ground. He bent over and picked up the Vegas keychain he had given to Brooke ten years ago.

By the time Reid had gotten to the hospital, Brooke had checked herself out. He tried calling the house, but fond the line disconnected. He also found out that her brothers were ignoring his calls.

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat on her bed and blankly looked at the TV as _Beauty and the Beast_ played. She wanted to be left alone, but no one seemed to realize that.

Uncle Dave had taken over her final classes before break, and Serena was staying in town until the family went back to California for the Holidays. Her cell phone buzzed and she sighed. She looked at the screen to find Jae-Sun's smiling face and the name 'Super geek' displayed.

She picked up and answered the phone tiredly. "This better be good."

"You, me, and a night in some of D.C's finest clubs," Jae-Sun spoke quickly getting directly to the point. "Come on. Tons of alcohol and companionship. Plus I leave for London tomorrow and you haven't really spoken to anyone since you left the hospital."

"I don't know," Brooke answered.

Jae-Sun came down her stairs. "You have no choice," he smirked. "Come on, it will be like old times."

Brooke smiled and tried to remember the last time she spent out on the town. "Let me go get dressed," she sighed sliding off the bed.

"Five minutes, give yourself the works." Jae-Sun said.

"If I'm going to do the works, then I'll need more than five minutes," Brooke said as she entered her bathroom.

Jae-Sun laughed. "It's been that long huh?"

"Shut up you twit," Brooke said laughing with him.

0o0o0o0

Reid sat at his desk looking at his phone. Wondering is he should call Brooke. Morgan looked at him in concern.

"All right geek fest," Morgan said. "We're going out," he stood up and grabbed his jacket and walked over to the young agent.

Reid looked up at him. "I'm not really in the mood to go out Morgan." In truth, he just wanted to make sire Brooke was all right.

He had overheard Matthews talking with Rossi. Apparently Maestro was the first person Brooke had ever killed. With Rossi taking over the last week of classes for Brooke, Reid hadn't been able to speak to him about Brooke.

"You can't mope around the office Reid," Morgan chastised. "We're going out, so grab your things and let's go. We'll even go to D.C so you'll be close to home."

Morgan was worried. Reid wasn't talking about Brooke. He was always looking at his phone or a cheap keychain. "Come on Reid," Morgan said. "Grab your things and let's get out of the academy before a case is brought in."

Reid stood up defeated. He might as well get this over with. Knowing Morgan, he would go off to get his 'groove thing on' and Reid could quietly slip out and take the train home.

0o0o0o0

Brooke sat in a loud club watching as men tried to pick up women, and the women stuck to their groups. The music was a heavy techno mix, and the dance floor was full of neon colors and flashing lights. The table she sat at was a small metal round table.

Jae-Sun walked up to their table hold a strawberry daiquiri and a tall glass of beer. "So, is there a reason you aren't strutting your stuff on the dance floor?" he asked taking the stool across from her."

Brooke took the frozen alcoholic drink and stirred the contents with her straw. She grabbed the fresh strawberry and smiled. "You know I prefer people watching, besides I don't really have anything to strut." She said popping the red berry into her mouth.

"You have plenty to strut," Jae-Sun smiled. He had seen Brooke on the dance floor many times before. It was how she met a couple of her past boyfriends.

"I'm not interested in dancing Jae," Brooke stated.

Jae-Sun looked around and spotted Morgan handing a reluctant Reid a drink. He got an idea and smiled. "Hey how many of those have you had?"

"Umm… three, enough to be slightly drunk," Brooke said. Daiquiri's were her favorite, but the alcohol was masked and she tended to have too many. So she had to be careful, but tonight she didn't care.

"Really?" Jae asked trying to sound surprised. She seemed normal enough.

"Jae, I started calling men pricks ten minutes ago."

Jae nodded. "Yeah, you're drunk. You become too honest when you have alcohol."

Reid was about to take a sip of his beer when Jae-Sun showed up. The genius looked up in surprise wondering why the Interpol team was still in the States.

"I hate to ruin your night, but Brooke's just the slightest bit tipsy and should go home. I have to stay here, because I meeting someone for a computer part for my system."

"What?" Reid asked looking around. Brooke was here?

He spotted Brooke poking at her drink in boredom, he eyes unfocused. She was in a hot pink halter top her left arm was only slightly bandaged. She wore a pair of black jeans. Her all black all-stars bounced slightly as a part of her nervous habit. He watched her rudely reject a young man.

"She's not tipsy," Reid said. "She's drunk. Why the hell did you let her drink more than one daiquiri?"

"Does she get bad?" Jae asked innocently. He knew how Brooke was.

Reid looked at Morgan. "I have to take her home before she does something stupid." He stood up and walked towards Brooke. Ignoring Morgan's calls.

Brooke spotted Reid and stood up. She pushed her way through the crowd and towards the exit trying to get away from him. She pushed herself out into the cold and swore silently.

Reid came out and found Brooke braving the cold as she tried to hail a taxi. "Brooke it's freezing outside."

Brooke turned and looked at him. "Why do you care?" Brooke snapped. "First you think I cheated on you, and now you want to tell me to stay warm?"

A cab pulled to a stop in front of Brooke and she slipped into the back seat. Reid slipped into cab as well and immediately gave his address to the cabbie.

"No, I want to go home," Brooke stated. "Without you."

"I'm not letting you go to your house drunk," Reid said. "Neal's there and he doesn't need to see you like this. I'll call Serena and let her know that you're at my house. We need to talk."

Brooke glared at him, but was only met with a hard stare. Brooke hugged herself to stay warm. "Fine," she said.

Reid took off his sweater and draped it over her shoulders. He kept a hand lingering on her skin before she pulled away.

0o0o0o0

After a silent cab ride, Reid and Brooke stood in his condo. Brooke looked out the balcony window.

"I should have told you," Brooke spoke. "I-I just… I just didn't how. After the kiss you witness with John, I guess you think I'm lying."

"No," Reid said. The kiss had hurt him, but it wasn't Brooke's doing. "I just don't understand."

Brooke turned and looked at him. "You know I don't have to tell you everything-"

"We're dating, I thought there were no secrets between us."

"Spencer, there are things you haven't told me. I know there is!" she shouted. "Being pregnant and then losing the baby was something I needed to deal with, and I wanted to tell you. I really did, but you have never liked John. Tell me something, if you had known I was pregnant, what would you have done. John's baby was growing inside me, and you hated him."

Reid looked at her. Would he have been there for Brook and the baby? "You could have told me," he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the keychain and held it out for her. "This was in the control room of Maestro's complex."

Brooke walked over and took the key chain and looked it over. "I was scared," she began. Tears welled up in her eyes. "I thought he was going to kill you," she sniffed. "I know I shouldn't be bothered by it, but I killed someone."

Brooke sunk into the couch. "I watched him die and even after everything he did to me. I didn't want to kill him." She stated as she began to cry.

"He would have killed you and me," Reid said.

"I shouldn't have let my guard down on the Maestro case," Brooke said. "I shouldn't have been on the case at all. I wasn't focused. I was mad at you because you wouldn't answer the phone, and I was mad at John for not taking a clue," she cried.

Reid sat down next to her. "Do you think Matthews would have taken a no?"

Brooke shook her head. "I'm his profiler. He's a great man, but he doesn't easily accept I can't"

"I should have answered your calls," Reid said. "I should have listened to you before jumping to conclusions."

Brooke looked at her hands. "We should have done a lot of things, but we didn't." She wiped her tears away and sniffed. "And now everything is going to hell in a hand basket."

"What do you mean?" Spencer asked already knowing the answer to his own question. He needed to hear it from Brooke.

"Spencer, you know about me being pregnant, and how I came back to the states solely to get pregnant again. Tell me that doesn't bother you."

Reid frowned and looked at her. "It bothers me, but at the same time, it's your body. If you want to get pregnant and have a baby, you can. I'm not going to stop you."

Brooke looked at the ground. "I can't do it. Not while we're dating. It would seem wrong."

"Why would it seem wrong?" Reid tried to look at her but Brooke turned away from him.

"You don't want kids Spencer!" Brooke exclaimed. She buried her face in her hands. "I can't walk around dating you while I'm pregnant with some unknown father's baby. It's not right."

"Why isn't it right?" Reid asked growing a tad aggravated. Why was it so important to her? She was going to do it anyway, why had she changed her mind?

Brooke sighed. "Spencer, I can't talk about this right now. It's complicated and I'm not even sure what I want to do right now." _It wouldn't be the same if it wasn't your baby. I want you to be the dad, but you're afraid, _she thought solemly.

"Does this count as our first fight?" Reid asked changing the subject for Brooke's sake.

"Are we still a couple?" Brooke countered asking the question that had been invading her mind since she found out Reid had seen the kiss between John and her.

Reid looked at her in shock. "You want to break up?" he asked.

Brooke shook her head. "No, I'm wondering if you can trust me," she explained. "I don't want to probe into your secrets, and you know almost all of mine. Are you okay with that?"

Reid took her hand and nodded. Brooke gave a small smile. She yawned and looked at the key chain. "I love you Spencer, and I need you to know that no one is going to change that."

Reid looked at her. "I'm sorry," he said. He leaned in and kissed her gently tasting the strawberry flavored drink from earlier.

0o0o0o0

The next morning Reid woke up to find Brooke asleep in his bed. She had borrowed some of his pajamas and the two had fallen asleep pretty fast.

Reid sat up and looked at her for a moment. "I love you too," he whispered.

He slid out of bed and wrote a note for her before getting dressed to get some coffee and pain killers for a possible hangover. He smiled at Brookes sleeping form before leaving the room.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Hmmmm… well it's not my best work, but I like it. So some light chapters are to come, but Brooke and Reid are still going to have to build their trust up once more. There is a lot to come, so I hope you all are looking forward to it.

Drop me a review letting me know what you think. I love hearing from you guys so keep it up.

Ren


	21. Chapter 20

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I really hate that I have to do this. I do not own Criminal Minds. The title and its characters belong to CBS and its original creator.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty:

Diana Reid lived in a world of paranoia and constant fear. Spencer knew this. He had known for a long time that his mother was crazy. Crazy at least in the medical community. Growing up he saw her as brilliant, and he still did. Her imperial knowledge of classic literature was almost unrivaled.

So as Spencer was walking into the Bennington Sanitarium, he wondered what 'lecture' she would be giving today. He smiled as he remembered her favorite poem by Chaucer.

The holidays were always spent in Vegas. It was something he did every year. Provided the FBI didn't call him on an emergency case.

He found his mother staring out the window. She was deep in thought. He walked over with his usual smile in place. "Hey mom," he greeted.

Diana looked up from her seat. Her pensive features creased in a smile. "Spencer, you're finally here," she said. She looked around in confusion. "Where is your girlfriend?"

"New York," Reid smiled sadly. "She's spending Christmas and New Year's there."

"But your letters said that her family is in California. I thought that maybe you would bring her to meet me."

"She's spending the holiday away from her family this year," Reid explained. "I told you that she got shot. Her parents weren't very happy to find that out and haven't stopped bothering her about her job."

"I can see why. I don't like thinking about people shooting you," Diana grunted. "I'm sure her mother feels the same."

Reid sat down and looked out the window at the bare trees. Diana reached over and put a thin hand on her son's knee.

"What's troubling you Spencer?"

Diana Reid was a mother and when she wasn't in the middle of one of her episodes, she knew when her son was bothered.

"Nothing," Reid answered too quickly earning a disapproving glance from his mother. He sighed in defeat. "Brooke wasn't something that I'm not ready for."

"What is it?" Diana asked placing her chin in the palm of her hand as it rested on the arm of her chair.

"Children," Spencer said looking at the floor. It upset his mother that there weren't any little Spencer's running around.

"Does she know that you don't want a child?"

"Yes, when we started dating, she took the steps to prevent pregnancy," Reid said. "But she still wants to have a baby."

"Why don't you want children Spencer?" Diana asked curiously.

"They don't like me," Spencer lied. He didn't want his mother to know that he was afraid of passing on a metal disease.

"Then you haven't been around the right children," Diana stated firmly. "She's rather plain looking," Diana said as she pulled out a photo of Brooke. Spencer had sent it to her in a letter.

Reid looked at the photo. It wasn't the looked that made Brooke beautiful in his eyes. It was her ability to care about those closest to her. She could have sent Neal back to California, but she didn't. The way her mind worked was what made Spencer lover her.

"You too would have a beautiful baby thought," Diana smirked as her son started to blush slightly.

Later that night Spencer sat in his hotel room. It was a simple one with cream walls and a floral print king sized bed. He sat at a small table and pulled his phone out. He took into account the time change. It would only be nine in New York. He dialed Brooke's number with a small smile in place.

"Speak," Brooke chimed.

Spencer's smile grew as he sat back in the chair. "Hey, how's New York?" he asked.

"Cold," Brooke laughed. "But Karrie and went for a walk in a snow covered Central Park today."

"That sounds really nice."

Brooke sighed over the phone. "It's simply magical."

"So why is Karrie spending the holidays in New York?" Reid asked.

"Her family went to the Caribbean on some sort of Christmas cruise. She doesn't like boats, so she tagged along. How's your mother?" Brooke asked. Reid laughed to himself. She pronounced Caribbean as Care-ah-bee-en, and it brought forth that slight English accent.

"She's good. She wants to meet you," Reid said.

There was a pause on the line. They may have put the John Bateman situation to rest, but there was still some tension and he didn't know how to fix it.

"I would have joined you if you had told me that your mother wished to meet me," Brooke spoke. "Maybe I could catch a flight there and we can spend New Year's with her."

"You don't have to," Reid said quickly. "Your birthday is on the second. What are you going to do?"

"I'm flying home and cracking open a bottle of really good wine," Brook said. Reid pictured her smile and found that he was smiling more as well.

"You haven't opened my gift yet. Right?" Brooke asked slowly.

Reid looked at the wrapped present that sat on his bedside table. It was a simple glittery green paper and it had been decorated with a gold bow. "No, but it's another book," he said. "Have you opened mine?"

"Of course not," Brooke stated sounding slightly offended. She laughed lightly. "Spencer I won't open it until the twenty-fifth."

"Okay," Spencer said. He heard Brooke yawn. "Long day?" he asked.

"No, if anything it went by too fast," Brooke struggled out as the yawn receded. "We saw Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. It was absolutely amazing."

"Your favorite," Reid said. He thought about an old conversation the two had about how the Disney movie was the reason Brooke looked beyond the surface of good looks.

"Of course."

"I'll let you go so that you can go to bed," Spencer told her. He didn't want to hang up, but she would fall asleep on the phone if they kept talking.

"Okay," Brooke yawned again. "I love you Vegas Knight," she said.

"I love you too," Spencer said before hanging up. One day he would say it to her face. That day would come soon.

0o0o0o0

Spencer walked into his mother's room Christmas morning and found her flipping through one of her many books. She had a mischievous grin on her face. She looked up just as Reid's eyes were covered from behind.

He caught a whiff of pomegranate as Brooke's voice came from behind. Her breath tickled his ear.

"Guess who?"

Reid removed Brooke's hands and stared at her in disbelief. "But you're supposed to be in New York."

Diana laughed as Brooke grinned. "She's been here the entire time."

"What?" Reid asked moving his head back and forth to look at his mom and Brooke. Brooke sat on Diana's bed and folded her hands in her lap.

"Your mother called my office at GWU a week ago. Somehow, she knew that I wasn't planning on going to California for the holidays," Brooke smiled. She knew full well that Reid mentioned it in his letters. "She told me that if I had and intention of dating her Spencer, that I had to come meet her. But it also had to be a surprise."

Spencer looked at his mother. "You planned all of this?" he asked.

"You couldn't hide her from me forever," Diana told Spencer matter-of-factly. "And I wasn't going to wait any longer."

Reid looked at his mother and excused himself before pulling Brooke into the hallway. That way he was away from his mother's piercing, curious gaze. Brooke looked at him innocently.

"You aren't mad are you?" she asked. Had she done something wrong by not telling him that she was coming to Las Vegas for Christmas? It hadn't been a part of her holiday plans. She was supposed to be in New York, but after Diana called…

"This was my mom's idea?" he asked her.

Brooke nodded. "I wanted to tell you, but she said that she would scratch my eyes out if I did. Albeit, jokingly, but she wanted to surprise you," she explained. "I'm sorry."

Reid places a hand on her cheek and smiled. He kissed her lightly before pulling her back into his mother's room. He bent over and hugged his mom.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Merry Christmas Spencer," Diana smiled and patted his back.

Spencer turned to find Brooke holding up a brand new ereader. "The technophobe got his girlfriend an ereader?" she asked.

"You said that you were worried about carrying all of your old books around to read. The pages get ripped and the spines start to wear as they're exposed to the elements. So you can have all of the eBooks for travel and read the real ones at home."

Brooke placed a hand on Spencer's shoulder. "That's sweet," she cooed. "Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek. Reid pulled out two gifts and handed one to his mother. The other was the green package from Brooke.

Diana opened the package to find leather bound copy of Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_. She flipped through the pages to find it in the old English that she loved so much.

Reid opened his present to find a first edition copy of Stephen Crane's _The Red Badge of Courage._ The cover and spine were worn from use, but it was in good condition. He looked at Brooke oddly. Normally she gave him something that wasn't in English.

"American literature isn't your thing," Brooke said. "But if you remember, that was the book we talked about the day I met you. Just after I gave up on trying to beat you in poker."

Reid smiled. He remembered. Brooke had the books imaginative and descriptive pages memorized.

Later that night Reid was lying in bed with Brooke draped over his waist. She was completely relaxed as she slept quietly in his lap. Reid opened his new book and started to scan the pages.

'_The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting.'_

A few minutes later, Reid set the book aside and moved Brooke slightly so that he could slid down into the sheets. She let out a small sigh before snuggling closer to Reid's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. He closed his eyes and let sleep overcome him.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: I'm so terribly sorry about the long wait on this chapter. I truly am. I've been super busy with school and other stories. I promise that there will not be a long wait like this again. I do feel really bad. I hope you liked it. I know it's a little small compared to the others.

I hope to get a lot done. Partly I've put this on hold because I've been waiting for 'Lauren' to show, so that I could form a plan of attack.

I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter. I can't make the writing any better unless you tell me what you like and what you want to see. Just let me know.

Ren/Shane


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